Clockwork City
by LittleSparrowBek
Summary: Jace and Clary find themselves in 1878-London. They meet up with the Shadow hunters from the London institute and seem to be getting along well when an unexpected letter arrives. When one of the shadow hunters disappears the others know they must work together. But how far will they go to get back someone they barely know? And what are the risks if they do? (set before CW Princess)
1. Chapter 1

_Tick…tick…tick…_

_The world was a matrix of interlocking gears. Bronze grinding against bronze, spinning round in an endless cycle. The ticking grew louder and louder._

_Tick…Tick…Tick…_

_It did not stop, it could not be stopped, not by heaven nor hell, and would carry on until the end of time; the never ending ticking._

_Tick…tick…tick…_

Clary was ripped out of her sleep. She sat up in bed only to find that her covers were wound around her so tightly that her right leg had lost circulation and was going numb. Uncoiling herself from the sheets she thought about her strange dream. The Angels had sent her messages before like this one, but sometimes it was hard to tell what was important and what was made up by her own imagination.

Clary discarded this dream as one of her own creation - mostly on the theory that the dream was completely random and had absolutely nothing to do with her gift - and went into the bath room to have a shower and get dressed. She chucked on an old blue tank top and a pair of jeans then headed to the kitchen to get some breakfast. She found Luke sitting at the table reading the paper and sipping a cup of coffee. She sat down next to him and poured herself a glass, but didn't add any milk to it. Luke looked up at her through his glasses and smiled. "Morning," His voice was calm as always, but very much awake.

Clary mumbled in response and took a sip of her hot coffee. She looked at the article of the back of Luke's paper - something about a discount on all wall clocks and watches - before asking; "Where's Mum?"

"She had an appointment with the dress maker at nine. You just missed her." Luke said standing up to put his mug in the sink. Clary watched him rinse it then return to his seat, she sat with her coffee mug warm in her hands. She was happy that Luke and her Mum were finally getting married; they deserved each other after all they've been through.

Then Clary realised with a jolt that if her mum had left for her appointment it must be already past 8.30. Clary had to get to the institute by 9.15. She'd told Jace that she would be there for her training session and if she didn't leave now she would be late and then would have to listen to Jace lecture her on the importance of being punctual. It's not like Clary meant to be late. Like she told Jace; sometimes other things came before training, like eating breakfast, but Jace had just shook his head at her and said that nothing comes before training. But Clary had to admit eating breakfast probably didn't matter if you were dead, and a shadow hunter that wasn't properly trained would be dead pretty quickly. Clary jumped up out of her chair and grabbed her jumper. Luke offered to drive her to the institute and said that he would be ready in 5 minutes. Clary hopped into Luke's van and waited for him to come out of the house.

It was just over a quarter of an hour later when the van pulled to a stop in front of the old church. It took her only a matter of seconds to remove the glimmer that protected the institute from unwanted mundane eyes. Clary thanked Luke as she jumped out of the van and ran up the path to the door of the church. She walked past the wooden pew chairs to the elevator. Moments after the button was pressed the steel elevator came down to meet her.

Clary called out a hello to whoever was home as she stepped out of the elevator and started down the hall. No one replied to her greeting so she continued on her way to the training room. Clary stopped when she heard voices coming from the library.

"So what is it exactly, that you want?" Alec's voice drifted through the gap in the door.

"I told you that I shall wait until Clarissa has arrived before reviling my purpose to come." The unfamiliar voice was soft but somewhat commanding and had a sort of musicality to it that only fairies ever have.

"She should be here already…" Jace sounded grumpy and Clary knew that he didn't exactly trust this unexpected guest, that or he was really pissed she was late.

Before anymore could be said Clary pushed the door open. "I'm here, sorry I'm late." she announced. They were all scatted around the room with Alec and Isabel sitting on one of the couches across from a tall woman in the arm chair. Clary was right; the woman who had spoken before was in fact a fairy. Her hair looked like spun silk falling down around her shoulders and across her back. She wore a long yellow dress with a brown leather belt wrapped around her tiny waist. When she turned, Clary saw that her eyes were a greenish yellow and that she had no pupils. With unnaturally high cheek bones, she looked almost alien. Looking across the room to the fire place, Clary saw Jace leaning against the wall with a look of obvious annoyance on his face.

"My name is Lorena; I am here to send you on a little job," Her lips curled into a pleasant smile, Clary saw that her teeth were tear-shaped. Lorena scanned the faces in the room then added; "you and him." She directed the last word at Jace. He looked up at her and smiled an incredibly sweet smile before turning his attention to Clary. His gaze ran over her once then stopped to look her in the eyes. Clary had no idea if he was angry at her or just angry in general. But she was reassured when he gave her a loving smile and pushed off the wall to stand behind Alec and Isabel.

"Yes, but what is this 'little job'?" Isabel's tone was flat like she was trying to hide her vanishing patience.

"Jonathan and Clarissa are to go through a portal and are to do what must be done." Lorena said with slight pride.

"Wait what? I'm sorry but what are me and Jace supposed to be doing?"

Lorena turned her attention back to Clary, "That, young shadow hunter, you must figure out yourself."

All of them exchanged looks, last of all Jace met Clary's eyes and as if to ask her permission he lifted one of his eye brows. Clary nodded and Jace turned to look at Lorena. "Do you promise our safe return?" he asked in what seemed like a bored voice.

"No, but I do promise that if you complete your task I will find you and bring you back"

The room was silent while they thought this over. Jace leaned forward over the top of chair to speak to Alec in a low voice. Alec nodded and stood, Izzy followed with a grumpy look. She came around to the back of the couch to stand in front of Jace then gave him a hug and mumbled into his shoulder, "Be careful, okay?" he nodded and hugged her back. She let go of Jace and looked at Clary "You too." Clary smiled at her but was distracted by what the fairy was doing.

Lorena moved through the room mumbling in some old language Clary didn't understand. She paced up and down the library chanting, as she did Clary saw that the books on the shelves started to rattle then warp and seemed to cave in on themselves, leaving a black and purple swirling portal in the middle of the room. It didn't look anything like the portals Clary had ever seen. Lorena straightened up and said in a tired voice, "You must leave now…"

Jace came up behind Clary and placed his hand on her back. He guided her to the edge of the portal where he stopped to look back at Izzy and Alec, they nodded in unison. Jace moved his hand from Clary's back and slid to into hers. "We're ready." Clary had no idea what she was reading herself for, but Jace, on the other hand, looked like he knew exactly what would happen next and wanted to get it over with. Though Clary could see the uneasiness in his eyes that meant he wasn't in control of the situation; something that really seemed to annoy Jace.

"What you do now will shape the world more than you will ever know, I wish you luck." Lorena bowed her head slighting, a gesture that unnerved Clary; Fairies were proud creatures and for one to show that sort of respect meant that whatever she and Jace were doing was not to be taken lightly.

Clary looked up into the golden eyes that she loved so much and smiled. Jace returned her gaze with an equally loving one and squeezed her hand. With that, Jace and Clary took one step into the swirling vortex and were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

"That's how I _am_ doing it!" Cecily yelled at her brother for the third time. She threw down her knife; it hit the ground with a clang only just missing his foot. Will jumped back with a yelp and glared at his little sister.

"No," he growled, "You're doing it wrong. The hilt must be on a 45 degree angle before you let go!" She picked up her knife and threatened to throw it at him. Gideon came over to them and gave Will a look that probably meant 'you're not helping', he corrected Cecily posture before moving back to help Sophie.

Will strode over to the weapons stand and picked up a small blade with a bronze hilt. He turned to face the wall with numerous cut marks and threw the knife across the room. It stroke home with perfect accuracy. Cecily gave him an angry look before saying in a voice that sounded, to Will's ears, like jealousy; "Show off…"He smiled at her then looked over her shoulder to see that Gideon and Sophie had stopped sparing and were gazing at each other with love plain on their faces. A sharp pain ran threw his bones when he looked at them. He was happy for Sophie but that could not make him for get his own heartache. Cecily looked form her brother to Sophie and Gideon then back again. Only now she looked at him with sad, knowing eyes.

Having noticed that the training room was now silent, Gideon stepped back from Sophie to look Will in the eye. Will raised one of his eyebrows causing Gideon to blush furiously. He gave a nervous sigh and picked up both of the fallen swords. "Tessa will miss the entire training session if she doesn't come soon." He's words made Will feel even emptier. Why wasn't Tessa there? Was she not there because she couldn't stand being in the same room as him? Was she avoiding him? Will forced the thoughts down, he had no idea what Tessa's reasons for not showing up were. For all he knew she could be sick; she hadn't been there for breakfast and the last time he'd seen her was at dinner the night before.

"I'll go and see if she's okay." Will announced walking towards the door of the training room. As he shut the door behind him, Will heard Gideon say that the girls could have a rest until he returned with Tessa.

Will walked down the corridors of the institute until he came to the hall that had both Tessa's and Jem's rooms. He took a deep breath and headed for the door that belonged to Tessa, only to be stopped by the sound of Jem playing his Violin. Will stopped and listened for a minute. The notes sounded slightly off; they didn't have the same fluency that they always did. A loud screeching noise cut through Will's thoughts, followed by a small embarrassed giggle.

"Sorry," just her voice was enough to make Will feel as if his chest had just had all the air squeezed from it. He took a step toward Jem's door and found it was open. Through the crack he saw Tessa sitting on the bed with Jem's violin in her lap. Jem sat behind her on the bed with his hands on his knees. His silver hair seemed to glow in the witch light giving him a halo effect.

"No, don't be sorry, you were doing great." Jem's voice was full of happiness. He bent down to kiss her neck. Will had his hands in fists and was yelling at himself to leave, but no matter how hard he tried his feet refused to move.

Tessa turned her head to look at Jem. She smiled then leaned forward into him. "Only because you're such a good teacher," Will watched in pain as the girl who he loved most in the world tilted her head up and kissed his best friend. Jem's arms went around her a second later. Will had to rip his eyes away. His heart felt like it was being cut open with a blunt knife; slow and excruciating.

The corridor seemed longer than Will remembered. He did not return to the training room, instead he went to the front doors of the institute. He grabbed his coat then opened the door and stepped out into the cool afternoon air.


	3. Chapter 3

Wind rushed all around Clary, making her ears ring and her head throb. She felt like she was spinning around in circles. The feeling was very different from every experience of being in a portal Clary had ever had. The wind was fiercer and much louder than ever before. Clary was sure now that this was not an ordinary portal, but she wondered why and how it was different.

They were spat out into icy cold water. Clary's lungs were quickly filled with it causing her to panic and thrash her arms about. She could feel herself drifting deeper into the freezing water. Her arms and legs began to ache with each movement. A hand grabbed the back of her top ripping her up out of the water. Jace pulled Clary through the water to the rocky shore where he lowered her onto her side; his hand patting her back. Clary coughed up the water from the river which left a foul taste in her mouth.

"Are you alright?" Jace said in between breaths, his voice tight. They were both soaked and freezing to death in the cold afternoon air. Clary looked up at Jace; his hair clinging to his temples and his wet shirt clearly outlining his arms and chest. The worried look did not leave his face when she moved in closer to him; the heat from his body stopped her shivering. "Clary, are you okay?"

"No, I'm freezing," Jace's chest shuddered with a relieved laugh. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "Why do I always have to land in water?" Clary asked more to herself than to Jace. She was thinking about when she portaled with Luke into Idris and landed in the lake that the angle Raziel rose from.

"What do you mean?" Clary looked up at Jace and remembered that she hadn't told Jace about falling into the lake and almost dying. When she had arrived at the Penhallows and had walked in on Jace kissing Aline the part about how she got to Idris was forgotten.

"Well 'someone' refused to take me with them to Idris," Clary said in a mocking voice, "so I had to find some other way to get there and 'apparently' you can't portal into the city so I was dumped in the middle of a poisonous lake," Clary took a breath before saying; "oh and I almost died." Jace pushed her away and stared at her with a blank look on his face. Clary burst out laughing which only seemed to make him more confused.

"So, any ideas where we might be?" Clary asked as Jace help her to her feet. They both looked at the landscape around them. They were standing on the shore of a murky green river. There were docks scattered here and there that were busy with people loading boxes on to ships and pushing wooden carts up and down the walk way. Behind the docks there was a collection of warehouse that were rusting in places because of the spray that was coming off the water.

"The Thames," Jace said in a neutral voice.

"The Thames? As in… London?" Clary's voice rose at the end. So, they were in London. She had always wanted to go to London but had to admit; it wasn't living up to her expectations.

Jace's mouth twitched up at the side. "Yes, as in London, and just to clarify, that's in England." Jace ignored Clary's look of annoyance and continued in a more serious tone, "Judging by what the people over there are wearing I'd say we are in the eighteenth century." He sounded unsure. Clary couldn't help but doubt his words; how on earth could they be in the eighteenth century? Portals couldn't take you through time, but then the portal that Lorena had made did seem really off from the start. She spoke her thoughts to which Jace replied; "I'm just as confused as you are. But how it happened isn't our main focus at the moment, we need to find somewhere to stay and get new clothes because right now we don't exactly fit in." Clary looked down at her still damp tank top and jeans. Jace was right; if they really were in the eighteenth century she would stick out like a sore thumb in the clothing she had on. Jace followed her gaze and smiled.

"Ok, so what are we waiting for?" Clary held out her hand to Jace who took it with a warm smile on his lips.

"Nothing, let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

The streets were quiet and peaceful. Will took his usual route down to the warehouses that line the Thames River near the docks. The sky mirrored Will's mood; cloudy, grey and dull. He walked along the damp cobblestones to the docks. Not for the first time, Will was left alone in the world. Why did he have to fall in love with the one person he couldn't have, the one person who happened to love Jem? Before Tessa, the only thing Will wanted was to see Jem happy, and now he couldn't even have that. He had to pretend that he had no feelings for Tessa, none at all, a feat that seemed impossible.

Lost in his thoughts Will stepped in a puddle of mucky black water and cursed himself for not paying attention, then he cursed London's miserable weather, then the demon that killed his sister. He fell to his knees on the wet ground and put is head in his hands. _Tessa…Tessa…Tess…_Her laughter echoed in his ears. He could never blame her, she had done nothing wrong. It was his fault, all of it; his fault for being stupid enough for believing the demon, his fault for always pushing everyone away, for pushing her away.

Will knew Tessa had fallen for him the second she told him she was staying at the institute. The unwanted memory come flooding back; the adorable shyness she had in her beautiful grey eyes, the way she practically bounded toward him, and from the eagerness in her voice it was clear how she felt. Then Will had said the words he would regret for the rest of his life; he had said that she was nothing to him, nothing but a whore. Then to her confusion he had said; "What did you expect, Tessa?" The thought of it caused a pitiful tear to slide down his face and land in the puddle creating ripples on the surface. Why, why didn't he scoop her up in his arms and tell her? Tell her that he felt the same way she did, that he loved her. But no, he waited too long. When he finally did tell her had yelled it at her in the drawing room just before she told him that she and Jem were getting married. Tessa, 'Theresa Carstairs'. It sounded wrong to him, so wrong. The next thought came without warning.

"Theresa Herondale," he whispered to himself. The words brought a smile to his lips. _NO! _He yelled at himself,_ Tessa is Jem's, not yours! _With a sigh Will dragged himself to his feet. He continued walking until he got to the bridge where he stopped. The cool spray off the water brushed over his face, Will shut his eyes and let it calm his aching heart. When he could finally think more clearly he opened his eyes and looked down at the water. On the shore there were two people, a man, who stood tall and pound, he was clearly strong and looked blond, and a small woman who had fiery red hair that stuck to her back. Both were dripping wet like they had gone swimming, but there was something else, something that stroke Will as odd; they both seemed to be glowing like they were lit from within. The woman looked up at her companion and held out her hand. He took it instantly. Another happy couple, Will thought with a bitter taste in his mouth. They must have such an easy life, he thought, not knowing about the evil out there. The evil that plan to consume the world, knowing nothing about what he and the shadow hunters must sacrifice so they can live their happy little lives, but that's not what Will really envied; he envied that they had each other to love and hold when he had no one.

He watched the couple until they walked away still holding hands. Then his eyes moved back to the water. The grey-blue water was same colour as her eyes. Will turned his back to the Thames and started off on the long journey home.


	5. Chapter 5

Her cloths were beginning to dry but Clary still felt cold. If she knew they would end up in London she would have worn more suitable clothing. Jace's hand was warm in hers providing much needed heat. They were off the shore of the Thames now and were walking up the shipping docks. Everything was so grey, the sky, the water, the buildings and even the people looked dull and lifeless. Jace seemed to go mostly unnoticed, however Clary was getting many unwanted looks from passer-by's. She really needed to get out of these clothes, but she needed something that would stop the looks until such a time when they had the chance to get some 'old' cloths. Walking passed a stack of crates that were about to be lifted up onto a ship Clary saw that someone had left a work man's hat resting on top of one of the crates. She scooped it up with the hand that wasn't in Jace's. Clary twirled up her ponytail and put the hat on.

"Good thinking," Jace looked down at her then smiled and reached over to tuck a single curl back under the hat. They continued down the docks until they reached the main road. Carriages lead by horses passed by each other with a steady speed. The road was made of cobblestones and buildings made of brick and stone toward over them. It was so beautiful, Clary felt like it was all a dream and that she would wake up in her bed under her warm covers. But no, this was real, all of it, and she and Jace couldn't get home until they did whatever it was that they were meant to do. Then another thought hit her.

"Mum and Luke!" Clary stopped suddenly, "They don't know, oh my god mum will kill me,"

"She can't really kill you when she can't even get to you," Jace's tone was thoughtful. Clary glared at him, "don't worry I told Alec to tell them, all though I don't think that will help you much when we get home." Clary didn't even want to imagine how furious her mum would be when she got home; she would probably be grounded for life and banned from seeing Jace. Well she might as well enjoy being with him while she still could. "I have absolutely no idea where we are." Jace had a very amusing look on his face that made Clary smile.

"Well, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto." Clary joked as they walked up the main road.

"Toto? Since when have you called me Toto?" She realised that Jace didn't know what she was joking about. She silently made a memo to make Jace watch 'The Wizard of Oz' with her. Then thought of Jace watching 'The wizard of Oz' made her laugh.

They walked past a wall in-between two closed shops. Jace stopped and stared at it. Clary looked too then realised that the wall was a glimmer. She used her mind to strip away the barrier witch took her longer than she expected but was proud when she finished. Behind it lay a narrow but brightly lit ally. She walked down it Jace at her side. They emerged a few minutes later into a large and loud square. There were little stands that sold things from trinkets to swards. The same lights that lit the ally were strung around connecting from shop to shop.

"A market?" Clary asked Jace.

"Looks like," he continued to walk forward, "a downworld market." Clary saw then that the people she took for mundanes were actually a combination of fairies, werewolves and warlocks, however there were no vampires; it was too early for them. A warlock walked pass Clary, he had a long green lizard tail that came from a slit in his trousers. There were also a few shadow hunters scattered around the square so nobody paid much attention to Jace and Clary, much to her relief.

They walked around looking at the shops. Jace stopped at a stall that sold daggers while Clary kept walking until she found a shop that was selling paintings. There was one that stood out, it was a pair of eyes, yellow eyes that resembled a cats. They were so familiar, like Clary had seen them before. She picked up the picture and held it in her hands, digging around in her memories to find who the eyes belonged to. "Can I help you, young shadow hunter?" Clary jumped, dropping the painting, and spun round at the familiar voice. She came face to face with a man who just so happened to have yellow cat eyes.

"Magnus!" Clary's voice came out as a shrill. She was so relieved to see him she was beside herself.

"Have we met?" Magnus wore a grey suit and his dark hair was combed to one side. He looked so different from what Clary was used to. Overwhelmed, Clary threw her arms around him. They stumbled back and Magnus let out a surprised noise. Clary remembered a second later that Magus would have no idea who she was. She pulled away from him instantly and apologised for hugging him in a rather shy tone. Magnus adjusted his coat and smiled at her. "No apology needed," he gave her a wink, "happens to me all the time." Clary doubted that Magnus always had random strangers throwing themselves at him, although there was something rather huggable about him.

"Sorry, I...err… I must have mistaken you for someone else." Clary lied. She really didn't want to explain her reason for hugging him, it was way too complicated.

"For some reason I don't think that's quite true now is it?" Magnus gave her a long hard stare. Of cause he didn't believe her, she had yelled his name. She knew he knew that she knew him. Magnus bent down and picked up the painting of his eyes and sat it back down on the table with the others. "Good taste," he said thoughtfully, "so is there a reason as to why you are here or are you simply here to look at paintings and hug warlocks?"

"Um, no I… err…" She struggled for words. Magnus saw this and grinned at her.

"It's getting quite late," said Magnus.

"Yes, it is, um... do you know where I can find a place to stay for the night?" Clary realised that her words may come across in the wrong way and felt extremely sheepish. She could feel the blood rushing to her face, but Magnus only smiled and spoke in a kind tone.

"You're a shadow hunter are you not?" Clary nodded, "why not go to the London institute?"

Clary felt like hitting herself. The institute, why hadn't they thought of that? Magnus gave her directions then Clary thanked him and ran off to find Jace. She looked back to see the warlock staring after her, she smiled to which he gave her a wink and turned back to painting stall.

Jace had moved on from the dagger stall and was now sitting down at a bench that was pressed up against the wall of a building. It had taken Clary a long time to find him, in normal circumstances she would have been angry at him, but she was so happy that she had run into Magnus she didn't care. When he saw her Jace stood with a relief plain on his face. He walked over to meet her.

"You scared me half to death; I thought something awful had happened to you. Where did you go?" Clary remembered that it was her who had walked off not Jace and quickly apologised for leaving.

"I ran into someone who told me how to get to the London institute."

Jace hit himself in the forehead, "Of course, why didn't I think of that? Where is it?"

Clary gave him the directions Magnus had told her and they started to head back to the ally they had come from.

"Just out of curiosity, who was it that told you where we're going?" said Jace.

"Magnus."


	6. Chapter 6

Tessa could feel her eyelids beginning to droop. They had been talking for hours and were getting nowhere. Jem kept giving at ideas on how they could find Mortmain, but each time he suggested something Will would find the flaws in the plan and they'd be back at square one again.

"Why can't we get a warlock to track him?" Cecily asked, she had the shadow hunters codex rested on her knees, "I read that warlocks could find where people were if they had an item that they could use to-"

"Great idea, I'll go and get the heart-shaped locket he gave me last time, we will find him in no time," Will's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Jem gave Will a cold hard stare before turning to Cecily. "We could do that if we had something we could use to track him but right now we have nothing." He explained in his ever kind way. Cecily looked over to Will; she seemed generally hurt by her brother's words. A wave of rage went through Tessa. Will didn't have to be a jerk to her, it's not like she knew they had nothing of Mortmain's and she was only trying to help. Will had not told anyone about his 'curse' except Tessa but that didn't mean he couldn't at least _try_ to be nice, especially to his little sister.

"Sorry, I didn't know," Cecily said, now sounding less confident.

"It's ok Cecily, you don't need to apologise." Charlotte sounded more tired and stressed than anyone else. Tessa looked over to Will who was sitting across the table from her; he sat slumped in the chair with his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed so angry. She looked over at Jem who was always calm - well except from the time when they had to go and get Will in the middle of the night, but you could hardly blame him for that; Will was asking for it – and could not help but compare them. Some part deep inside her still longed to be with Will, to have him hold her. She struggled to force the thoughts down to the back of her mind.

Will looked up at her through his long dark eyelashes making her heart jump. He lifted his head and gazed at her from across the table, his dark blue eyes burrowing into her soul. Then he did something she didn't expect – Tessa wasn't sure what she expected Will to do if he caught her staring but it wasn't this – Will beamed at her, forcing her heart to race even faster, then he looked out at the faces across the table. "Hey, I have an idea," all eyes at the table turned to him, "Why don't we offer Tessa up as bait?"

"What?!" Tessa was shocked. Offer her up as bait? Did he actually _want_ to get rid of her? He turned to face her with a look of something on his face; pride, eagerness or slight amusement.

"Why not? It's _you_ Mortmain wants after all. We can offer you as bait then wait until he comes and gets you and spring out and grab him. Then we will make him stop his infernal clockwork… things. And save the world from certain death." Will had the most irritating grin of his face. How dare he make a joke of this? Tessa felt like slapping that smile off his face.

"Well if this is such a great plan, why didn't you come up with it before?" Tessa growled.

"Because, I only just thought of it now, when I saw you staring at me." The room went silent.

"I was _not_ staring at you!" Tessa yelled. Why did he have to say that, why in front of Jem?

"You were so," Will's smile lifted even more. Right, that was it; she was going to hit him.

Tessa stood knocking her chair over. Just as it hit the floor the doorbell echoed throughout institute stopping her.

"Tessa, sit down. Will, no one is going to be offered up as bait, am I understood?" Charlotte growled, "And I don't know what is going on between you two but can you please sort it out elsewhere." What's going on between them? Did everybody think that Will and her had something going on? What did that even mean; 'going on'? Charlotte sighed before saying, "Sophie, can you please answer the door." Sophie stood up from the table and bowed her head slightly to Charlotte then left the room.

Tessa looked over at Jem. Her heart pinched when he did not look back at her. She wished she knew what he was thinking. Her anger for Will had only increased. She could not stop her gaze from flicking over to his seat. Will's eyes were already on her searching her face for something. Tessa tried to show him as much anger as she could, but failed miserably when she saw that his eyes and mouth drooped down at the edges. She could feel her heart beginning to soften. It must have shown on her face because Will tore is eyes away a second later, but not before she saw the change in them; regret.


	7. Chapter 7

As quietly as she could, Sophie hurried down the maze-like corridors to the front of the institute. She was rather glad that the bell had rang, Tessa looked like she was about to attack Will, not that he deserved any better. Sophie had always thought that Will was rather fond of Tessa, in a way that was different than his usual fondness. She had seen him looking at Tessa and knew what he was most likely thinking. William only ever cared about himself. But she had noticed a change in Will lately; he was more patient and he treated everyone with a bit more respect. And Sophie could only presume that it was because of Tessa and she began to think that he may even love her, but she could not say that after how he had just treated her.

Sophie took a left and arrived in the foyer of the institute. She gave herself a quick check over; patting down her hair and straitening her dress before she opened the door.

There standing on the front steps was a couple. There was a boy, he looked the same age as Jem and Will, he was tall with a slim but strong build. His hair was a dark gold and fell down to his ears. Sophie saw that his eyes were also gold. She had never seen someone with gold eyes; his seemed to glow and flicker like a candle. He was beautiful, as was his companion. Standing next to this boy was a girl. She must have been around the same age as Tessa, and wore an old workman's hat. She reached up and pulled it off her head, Sophie watched as waterfall of red hair spill out around the girl's shoulders. She looked up at Sophie and smiled. Her green eyes lit up with friendliness.

"How may I help you?" said Sophie.

"'Evening, is this the London institute?" asked the boy. So they were shadow hunters. Sophie nodded, "We are shadow hunters in need of a place to stay, can you help us?" Sophie barely ever saw other shadow hunters, besides the ones that lived in the institute, and never, in the time that she'd worked there, had they come to stay at the institute.

Sophie stepped out of the doorway, "Please wait here," she directed the couple into the foyer, "I will only be a minute."

Sophie hurried back up the halls of the institute to the dining room. She pushed open the door to find that everybody had gone back into deep conversation, everyone but Will and Tessa. Will was back into his original position; slumped in the chair, arms crossed over his chest. Tessa, however, was looking very awkward in her chair with her eyes cast downwards at the table oblivious to what was being said around her. The only person who noticed her presence was Gideon; when he looked up at her and smiled she felt her own smile blooming on her face. Charlotte was the next to realise her and stopped the discussion.

"Who was it Sophie?"

She gave her a little curtsy before saying; "There are two Shadow hunters waiting to speak to you in the foyer, Miss," At Sophie's words many silent looks were exchanged. As Charlotte rose from the table Henry reached out and grabbed her hand, he gave it a gentle squeeze before letting her go. Sophie and Charlotte left the dining room to go and greet their new guests.


	8. Chapter 8

Jace was pacing up and down the foyer of the London institute. He was talking about how he had always wanted to see the institute in London and how exciting this all was. Clary stood twirling a piece of her hair around her finger.

"We need to be careful," Clary didn't even realise that she had spoken out loud until Jace stopped walking and looked at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She looked back at him, "I mean if we change something in the past, we would be creating a different future," she spoke thinking off the movie Simon had made her watch; 'Back to the Future', "We could create an alternate universe or something," Jace stared back at her with a blank look, "We might even end up destroying the world as we know it! This could be very bad."

Jace thought this over for a long time before saying; "Clary, we were sent here to do something, and if that means changing the future than it's what we must do. But you're right we need to be careful, I think it would be best if we kept our past to ourselves, don't you?" She nodded. They were both silent as they waited for the girl to return.

When she did she was followed by another lady. She was small with a bun of brown hair tied up on top of her head. When she saw Jace and Clary she smiled. Clary returned her smile, but Jace, she noticed, did not. He had a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Good evening, I'm Charlotte Barnwell of the London institute, and this is Sophie," Charlotte spoke with pride and authority.

Clary waited for Jace to say something and when he did not she smiled and said; "Clary, Clarissa Fray," she thought it was best not to use her father's name.

Jace did too apparently because when he finally did speak all he said was; "Jace, we are in need of a place to stay."

"Of couse, we were just about to have dinner, would you care to join us?" Charlotte's offer was like music to Clary's ears. The thought of food made her feel even hunger. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten, and was ravenous.

They followed Charlotte and Sophie through the numerous corridors of the London institute. It was massive. The walls were lined with faintly glowing witch lights giving the halls an eerie feel. Clary walked close to Jace, having to take two steps each time he took one just to keep up with him. Jace was walking with no hesitation whatsoever, very much unlike Clary who felt like she was going to trip over her feet.

Charlotte stopped suddenly in front of a closed door. She turned the handle and pushed the door open. The dining room was large with a long wooden table in the middle. Around it there were many seats, six of which were occupied. Charlotte walked to the edge of the table. All eyes feel on Jace and Clary. Clary scanned over the people at the table; there was a muscular man, with blond hair like Jace, however his was thicker than Jace's and seemed more dull, he also had green eyes, at the far end of the table sat a girl, no older than fifteen, she had dark hair and eyes so blue they looked almost violet, on her knees rested the shadow hunter codex. There was a man who seemed to look very awkward, he had red hair like Clary's but his was more of a ginger colour. Clary's eyes moved farther up the table. A boy with silver hair and eyes had his hand on top of the girl sitting next to him; she looked to be the same age as Clary, but to Clary's distaste was much taller than her. She had blue-grey eyes and brown hair.

Finally Clary's eyes came to a stop at a boy who was separated from the group. Clary could not help but stare, he was gorgeous. He had dark brown - almost black - hair that fell across his face and deep, deep blue eyes. With his perfectly angled face and strong build he was one of the most beautiful boys Clary had ever seen, with one exception of couse. He sat slouched in his chair. There was something strangely familiar about him; in his posture and the way he didn't seem to care about anything that didn't directly involve him.

"Everyone, this is Clary and Jace, they will be staying with us at the institute," Charlotte announced. There were many looks exchanged across the table. Clary scanned the faces at the table. The boy who sat alone looked up at Jace and her. His eyebrows rose in slight surprise but other than that he showed no emotion.

The silence in the room was growing longer and longer. Clary felt like she was back at school and was giving a presentation nobody liked; she hated it. She was silently begging someone to say something. And was rewarded when the boy with the silver hair stood and walked over to where they were standing. He had a friendly smile and kind eyes. He extended his hand to Jace.

"Jem, James Carstairs," Jace looked down at the boys hand then back to his face and smiled.

"Jace," A wave of relief ran through Clary; for a second she thought Jace wouldn't shake his hand. Jem smiled at them both. He turned back to the table to look at the girl who was Clary's age. She stood and came over to stand next to him.

"This is my fiancé, Tessa." She turned to Jace and gave him a slight curtsy; the look on his face was priceless, Jace obviously wasn't expecting that.

"Pleasure to meet you," Tessa said in a quiet but sweet voice. Clary met her eyes and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Clary," She felt a bit stupid and awkward introducing herself. Tessa smiled back at her but didn't say anything.

Charlotte walked up to the end of the table, "Sophie, tell Brigit to make two more plates of dinner." Then she turned back to the table. "Jace, Clary, come and meet every one; this is my husband Henry," She used her hand to gesture to the awkward man seated next to the empty seat that must have belonged to Charlotte.

Henry looked up at them. Obviously flustered he replied, "Oh, yes, hello," Clary smiled back.

Charlotte moved around the table introducing them to Jace and Clary. She instantly tried to remember all their names; Sophie; the girl who answered the door and who also had a long scar across her face, then Charlotte, who was clearly the one running the institute, Henry, Charlotte's husband. Jem, when Clary thought of him one word came to mind; silver. Then there was Tessa, who was Jem's fiancé. Gideon was the boy with the blond hair and green eyes, Cicely, the girl with the codex. And…

Charlotte had reached the boy at the end of the table. "Will?" He looked up at them.

"William Herondale," Clary almost fell over from shock. She couldn't help but look over to Jace. His face didn't change at all, but the was something in his eyes. Clary couldn't believe it. _Herondale_? She noticed Jace was looking at her through the corner of his eyes and she remembered that she was still staring at him. She instantly shifted her gaze.

"Nice to meet you," She said trying to break the awkward silence that she had created. He said nothing in return but simply resumed his former position. Well, that explained the familiarity, and attitude.

"Well, now that you've met everyone, please come and sit." Charlotte directed them to a pair of seats. Clary sat and waited for Sophie and another lady, who Clary guessed was Brigit, to set down the food on the table in front of each person. It was a roast with bits of pumpkin and potato. Clary was relieved that once the food came conversation started.

"So, what brings you two here?" Jem asked picking up his knife and fork.

Clary looked over to see if Jace would answer, but when she saw that he wasn't even looking to Jem she figured that he was leaving the talking to her. In some way she was thankful that he trusted her to do the talking, but mostly she wanted to not have all the attention on her. "Um, we needed some place to stay and someone directed us here."

"Well we are happy to have you." Charlotte said in a cheery voice.

Henry took a big bit out of a piece of potato and swallowed before asking if they were from London.

"No, Jace and I are from America," Clary stated in a rather sheepish manner.

"America?" Tessa asked in an exited voice.

"Yeah," Clary suddenly panicked though she wasn't sure why.

"Oh, I'm from America," Tessa beamed at her. Her smile was so friendly Clary couldn't help but smile back at her. Tessa opened her mouth to say something else when she was interrupted by Henry.

"Hmm, have you heard of the automatons?" All eyes fell on her and Jace. The table was completely silent and nobody seemed hungry any more. Clary tried to think. She had never heard of these 'automatons', utterly stuck she looked over to Jace for help.

"Automatons? Like robots?" It was the first thing Jace had said since they started eating.

"Like clockwork beings. Have you not heard of them over in America?" Charlotte asked.

"No, no I haven't," Jace's voice was serious.

Charlotte proceeded to explain what the situation was. They had all finished eating by the time she stopped talking. Clary was extremely confused. "Wait, so you're saying that there's an evil army made up of clocks? And that they are led by some evil man who wants you?" she looked over to Tessa. "Surely we would have learned about this sometime," Her words where directed to Jace. He was frowning. Clary knew he didn't like what he had just heard.

"Well, I'm surprised you didn't know, but now that you do you must understand that we do not expect you to be involved in this, however if you wish you help would be greatly appreciated," Charlotte was looking at them both waiting for an answer.

"Of couse we'll help, it's of our job isn't it?"

Clary wasn't really asking it as a question and was surprised when Charlotte smiled and said; "Yes, and thank you."

After all the plates where taken off to the kitchen to be washed everyone started to clear and head off to their rooms. Sophie showed Jace and Clary to their rooms that were in a corridor like every other and were opposite each other. Clary tried to remember the way they had come so she could find her way in the morning but was so tied she could barely stand up. Sophie left them standing in the corridor after saying good night and wishing them a restful sleep.

Jace stood in front of Clary. Her eyes were stinging with drowsiness and her body was tense. She leaned against Jace and put her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. She shut her eyes, breathing deeply. They stood like that for a long time before Jace let go of her.

"Come on sleepy head," Jace guided her to one of the rooms and sat her down on the bed. "I know you're tied but I need to know your thoughts on what happened"

Clary put her head on his shoulder. "I think that we need to help them," Then another thought came to her, "Jace, do you think this is what Lorena sent us here for?"

Jace stroked her hair gently. "I don't know Clary. Come on, go to sleep, I'll see you in the morning." He kissed her sweetly on the check. As he was closing the door Clary called out to him.

"Jace," he paused and looked across the room at her, "I love you."

He smiled at her. "I love you too Clary, good night."

Once he closed the door Clary didn't even bother getting out of her cloths, instead she pulled the covers back and climbed in to the soft bed. She lay looking up at the ceiling for less than a minute before her drowsiness took her and she fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Tessa walked down the hallways that lead to the dining room. She could hear voices coming from the crack in the door. She pushed it open to find that there were four people sitting at the table; Charlotte, who was reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of tea and paying absolute no attention to what was happening around her, Cecily, Will's little sister, was sitting at one end of the table with the shadow hunters codex propped up on her knees and a piece of toast in her hand. She was nearly at the end of the book now and only had a little bit more to read. Then there was Jem and Will who seemed to be deep in conversation. When Tessa walked in they both look up at her. Jem smiled and said good morning while Will just watched her take her seat on front of them. She reached over to take a piece of toast that was waiting in the middle of the table. She buttered it as the boys continue with their conversation, or argument.

"No, it was stupid," Jem said in his calm manner.

"But if it is a last option and the only thing you can do then it's not stupid." Will protested. Tessa wondered what on earth they were talking about.

"You can do many other things, and every time you've done it there has always been another option Will, admit it." Will refused to agree with Jem and looked up at Tessa. She could feel the heat rushing to her checks and cursed herself. Will should not make her feel like this. She tried not to think about him and was succeeding until she realised that he was saying her name.

"What do you think Tessa?"

"What? Sorry I didn't hear you." She was trying not to look him in the eyes.

"We were discussing the matter of vampires, and I think Will really should stop bitting them." Jem explained.

"But like I said before; sometimes you have no choice,"

"Um, I agree with Jem, last time you bit a vampire you had to do all the stuff afterwards," As soon as the words past her lips she wished she could take them back. The memory of her first kiss came rushing back to her mind unbidden. Will lying in the middle of the attic covered in holy water, the taste of it on his lips. The way he ran his fingers through her hair. Then she remembered him sending her way, like he was angry with her. If only she knew, knew that he was trying to save her, that he was afraid kissing her would kill her, that he felt the same way she did.

When she withdrew from her thoughts she saw his eyes were on her. They both knew what the other was thinking. His blue eyes trying to hide the pain he was going through. Tessa's heart felt like it was about to explode.

"See, two against one." Jem's words broke their connection and Tessa looked back down at her now cold toast. She didn't want to eat anymore, she felt sick.

"'Two against one' in what?" Clary's voice came from the door. Tessa turned to look at the door where she stood next to Jace. She was wearing a pale blue loose-fitting dress that showed the tops of her shoulders. It looked very pretty on her and made her bright red hair stand out. Jace wore much the same thing that the other boys wore; plain trousers and a button shirt. Tessa had to admit he looked very handsome with his blond hair and golden eyes. Tessa was still unsure of the couple. Clary seemed friendly enough. But she didn't know what to think of Jace. He seemed so familiar to her yet she had no idea why.

"Ha, look reinforcements," Will asked them what their thoughts on the matter of bitting vampires were.

"You bit a vampire?" Clary said, her eyes wide.

"Twice," Will seemed to be almost proud of his statement.

"Why? That's just stupid." Clary said. Will threw his arms up with irritation.

Seeing that Jace was his only option he turned; "And what about you, what do you think?"

Jace and Clary sat down at the table in the chairs they had last night at dinner. "Me? I think that if you have no other option then what else can you do? It's that or die."

A wide smile spread on Will's face. "That's exactly what I said!"

"But Jace, if you bite a vampire-"

"I know what happens when you bite a vampire Clary, but if it's a last option then it's all you can do." Tessa was surprised at how Jace instantly sided with Will and how he said the same thing that Will had.

"Well it's still in our favour, three against two," Tessa said, trying to prove the point that they still lost.

Will smiled an almost childish smile, "Not for long, Charlotte, what do you-"

"Don't even bother getting me involved in your silly argument William." Charlotte said without looking up from her paper. Will looked like he had been deflated. Clary burst out laughing then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, Tessa saw the look on Will's face at being rejected then being laughed at and she too burst out with laughter.

The girls were still giggling when Henry and Gideon walked into the room. They both sat down. Henry kissed Charlotte on her check. She looked up at him and smiled. Gideon sat in his usual spot before he started talking.

"Tessa, Cecily you both have training after breakfast." It was Tessa's turn to feel deflated and Cecily looked like she felt the same way. Training always made Tessa's mussels ache and her head throb. And she really wasn't in the mood to be throwing around knives or learning how to fight with her hands and feet. All she wanted was to sit somewhere quiet and get lost in one of her favourite book.

"You should go too Clary," Jace said. Then he looked at Gideon, "If that's ok?"

Tessa felt relieved when he said it would be fine. She had decided in the past few minutes that she rather liked Clary and was glad she would be training with them.

Once they had finished eating Gideon stood. They all followed him excluding Henry and Charlotte who were talking to each other in kind living voices. Tessa was surprised to find out that Jem, Will and Jace were coming to the training room too. They walked down the halls to the training room. Sophie opened the door; she was up the front talking with Gideon. Once in the training room Gideon gave each of the girls a task. Cecily and Sophie would be sparring while Clary and Tessa would have to fence.

Sophie and Cecily moved off to one side of the room and began to block each other's punches. Gideon handed both Clary and Tessa a wooden sword. Clary took it with slight hesitation. Tessa did the same, she had no idea how good Clary was and the thought of being hit with a wooden stick didn't sound very pleasing. Gideon stepped back from them and used his hands to show them that they could start then he crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Tessa met Clary's eyes and saw her own feelings mirrored in them. Who would move first? In the end it was Clary that took the first step, but Tessa was right behind her trying hard not to get too tense. She took deep breaths but it didn't do much. Clary took a step to the left before she attacked. Tessa only just managed to get her sword up in time. The sound of the wood hitting was loud and echoed through the training room. She heard Will shout at her to stay focused just before she felt the wood smash against her side.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Tessa, are you ok?" Clary had dropped her sword and was standing over her.

"Now Tessa, now!" Will yelled from the side of the room.

"Hey, that's cheap," Jace growled at Will, "She's not even armed."

"Oh and I guess it was fair when she hit Tessa?" Will snapped back.

Tessa accepted Clary's extended hand and told her she was fine. Clary hadn't hit her that hard she just wasn't expecting it.

"As a matter of fact it was completely fair, Tessa wasn't paying attention. That's the number one rule when it comes to fighting." Jace spoke as if he was quoting somebody's great words.

Everyone in the room had turned and was watching the two boys. Will looked really annoyed to be told off, "No, the number one rule is to observe you opponent before you strike,"

"Yeah but that rule would mean nothing if you weren't even focused in the first place." Jace pointed out.

"Well, we all bow down to your might words." Will spoke with over the top sarcasm. At this Jace smiled.

"Are you challenging me?" Now Will smiled. Tessa knew this was not going to end out well.

Will walked over to the weapon table and picked up a wooden sword that was slightly longer than the ones Tessa and Clary had. He tossed it across the room to Jace who caught it in his left hand then came over to stand where Tessa and Clary were before. Will joined him with his own sword. Like the girls they both stood there facing one and other before attacking.

However unlike Tessa and Clary they both moved at the same. Mirroring the others movements like they had rehearsed it. They circled each other looking only in the other's eyes. They both jumped at the same time. Their swords collided with a loud crack. The next moves were a blur to Tessa's eyes; she couldn't tell what was happening. Both boys moved with incredible speed and accuracy. Will lifted his sword, Jace ducked a second later. The tip of the sword missed his head by less than an inch.

Tessa sucked in her breath. That could have been really bad. She was shocked at how skilled they both were. She had never seen Will fight like that before and Jace outstanding. He moved with beautiful grace yet such speed.

Will paused with surprise; he was sure that would hit. Jace took advantage of this. He used his foot to trip Will up. Will landed on the ground with a loud thud sending his sword flying up into the air. With a smile on his face Jace caught Will's sword with his free hand. Then he looked down at Will.

"Rule number one; _always _stay focused."

Everyone was braced against the wall for support. Nobody could quite believe what had just happened. Jem was the first to recover. He walked over to the boys. Jace extended a hand to Will who took it gratefully.

"That was incredible, both of you," Jem was generally shocked.

Gideon stepped forward to congratulate them. He and Jem were asking Jace and Will many questions. Tessa was expecting Will to be angry that he was beaten but from the look on his face it was clear that he wasn't. He and Jace were talking and complementing each other's skill. Tessa knew that Will took a long time to trust people so she was surprised how quickly he had taken to Jace, but despite being unsure of him herself she was glad for Will. And it made her smile to see him happy again.

After sometime, Sophie left to go help get lunch ready. The others soon followed her once it was clear that the training was over. Tessa walked behind the boys who were having a conversation about what weapons were best against different demons.

"Wow, Will was amazing!" Clary had come up behind Tessa, "I thought he almost had Jace for a second there."

Tessa still couldn't get over the whole experience. "I've never seen anyone fight like that before, the training in New York must be intense,"

Clary smiled, "Jace has certain…talents," there was a tone in her voice that made Tessa hesitate.

"Talents?" said Tessa.

Instead of replying Clary simply shrugged. Now Tessa was utterly confused, but gave up on the matter. They reached the dining room just as the food was being served.

Tessa sat down in her usual spot. To her surprise Clary sat down next to her instead of sitting next to Jace like she had for dinner and breakfast. Tessa was rather pleased to have someone to talk to however she did wonder why she wasn't with Jace. When Tessa looked up she saw the reason Clary wasn't with him. Jace was surrounded by all the boys and looked like he had been their friend for years and not hours.

"Looks like someone's made some new friends," Tessa said as Clary pulled her chair in.

Clary laughed, "I'm glad," to Tessa questioning look she added, "Jace has a hard time trusting people."

"Oh, I see." Tessa looked down at what they would be having for lunch -vegetable soup- and back at Clary.

"So, you're getting married?" Clary's voice was cheerful and kind.

Tessa could feel herself blush. Clary laughed and continued, "You must really love him," she said thoughtfully.

"I do." Tessa looked over at Jem and felt the corners of her mouth lift. He was eating his soup like it was a great delicacy. "Forgive me if I'm wrong but you and Jace are…are you two together?"

"Yes, but it wasn't easy, believe me."

Tessa was suddenly curious. Maybe Clary's story would help her figure out her own dilemma. "Hey, Clary how did you and Jace meet?"

"Well, I was with my friend, Simon. We were going dancing, and I saw this girl, she was stunningly beautiful, anyway there was a boy and he went over to her. Then I saw two other boys follow them and I thought I saw a gun so I freaked out." Clary took a deep breath before continuing, "I went to see what they were doing and saw them kill this boy who was with the girl. That's when I saw him. I was still scared about the fact that he just killed someone. I didn't know it was a demon then, I didn't know anything about the shadow world at that time. I still thought he was the most gorgeous boy I had ever seen, and then I got to know him and fell helplessly head over heels in love." Tessa thought Clary's story was beautiful. It was clear that they loved each other very much.

All through lunch they talked. They would take turns saying trivial things like what their favourite colour was and things about nothing of importance. Tessa decided once and for all that Clary was definitely someone who she wanted as a friend and was glad to have her and Jace there.


	10. Chapter 10

Clary had never really had a close friend to talk to about guys, besides Simon but talking to him about Jace was a little bit awkward for both of them, so being able to just talk with Tessa was something Clary was oddly thankful for. Clary and Tessa could have talked until dinner but Charlotte had suggested that they do some more research on Mortmain.

They were all in the library now which was massive and had hundreds of books on its shelves. Gideon sat with Sophie on one of the couches in front of the fire. Jem and Tessa were on another and Will was leaning against the wall in the same pose that Jace had when Clary had walked into library at the New York institute.

There was one more seat left; it was an old looking arm chair. Jace walked over to it and was about to sit when a loud and angry noise growled out from the chair. Clary leaned over to see where it had come from when she saw a familiar looking grey puff ball curled up on the chair. The cat was hissing at Jace to back off proving that the chair was already taken. Jace turned back and gave Clary the oddest look. She returned it knowing fully well what he was thinking.

"Sorry, he doesn't like strangers." Jem admitted.

"Really?" Jace was smiling now and it was clear that this was the cat they thought it was.

Just to be sure Clary asked what his name was. "Church, we saved him from the Dark sisters." Jem explained.

So that was where the old cat came from. Clary would never be able to look at him the same way. He was another connection that they had to the London institute. Clary began to wonder just how close they were to each other.

In the end Jace finally got Church to give up his seat. Clary sat on the arm of the chair listening to the conversation that was going on around her. Jem was suggesting different ways they could go about getting information. Clary let her eyes wonder. They landed on Will. He too wasn't really listening to what was being said, but Clary could see that he was concentrating on something. The look in his eyes was kind and gentle. Curiosity getting the better of her she followed his loving gaze.

Tessa was sitting with her shoulder slightly touching Jem's with her hand in his they looked like the perfect couple. That's when it hit Clary, her heart pinched with pity. She knew exactly what he was going through; the pain of wanting the one person you can't have. Clary was still thinking about Will when Jace put him hand her on the knee. She only hoped that things would work out for Will like they had for her.

"When we arrived in London we came across a Downworld market close to the docks," Jace spoke as if he was talking to himself.

"I've looked there and couldn't find anything on him." The annoyance in Wills voice was understandable; they weren't getting anywhere.

"We should still check it out." Jem seemed pretty enthusiastic compared to the rest of them. But they all agreed that it was their best bet. They all went off to prepare.

It was decided that Cecily, Sophie and Gideon would stay behind to do some more training. Cecily objected at first saying that she wanted to come with them and Will had to convince her to stay behind.

"She'll listen to Will." Tessa was standing next to Clary at the front door waiting for the rest of them get ready.

"Why? She refused Gideon before." Cecily had put up an impressive argument against Gideon before Will had come to talk to her.

"Because Gideon isn't her brother."

"Brother?" Now that Clary knew she could see the family resemblance; the same dark hair and blue eyes. It was so clear now that she wondered why she hadn't seen it before. Will was speaking to Cecily in a calm tone and Clary couldn't help but smile. Clary thought that Will would be a good big brother. He was looking out for his little sister. She thought of her own brother and shuddered. It reminded her that once they got back she would have to deal with her sibling problems too.

The others were ready by the time Will was done talking and they all jumped into the institute carriage and set off down to the docks of the Thames.

Downworld was much the same as it was when Clary and Jace were last there. The lights were still strung up giving off a faint glow, not that it was needed in the late afternoon. There were more stores now though selling gadgets and gismos of all sorts. Will suggested that they split and cover more ground.

"Me and Tessa can go and ask around toward the west side of the market." Clary hoped the boys wouldn't object because she really wanted to speak with Tessa alone. They all had the same worried look on their faces but didn't refuse. However Jace did say that they must meet up at the ally way when they were finished. The girls agreed to this and headed off to the west side.

Clary and Tessa walked amongst the shops asking if anyone knew about Mortmain or his company –Clary just found out that he owned a cog and gear company and suggested they might get more help if they mentioned it- but didn't get much help. More people knew about the company but nobody wanted to go into much information on it, so the girls-having covered the majority of the west side- gave up on asking people about Mortmain and were heading back to the ally. This would be the last chance Clary would get to ask Tessa about Jem and Will.

"Tessa, how did you and Jem meet?" Not wanting to create a mess Clary stated off with Jem and not Will.

There was a slight hesitation before she answered and Clary tried to think what it might mean. Was she not happy with Jem, did she not want to tell Clary? Clary growled at herself for jumping to conclusions; Tessa was probably just trying to remember.

"On my first night at the institute, before I was going to bed I heard the sound of music drifting from under the door across from mine." Tessa spoke as if she was reliving the moment. "I walked in on him playing his violin. Clary, it sounded so beautiful." Clary smiled back at her. She was thinking of her first morning at the New York institute when she walked in on Jace playing the piano. The notes and melody were so perfect; she could remember it down to every detail.

"What about Will? How did you meet him?" Tessa stopped. Clary stopped too and instantly apologised. "Sorry Tessa, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No…I- it's just I wasn't expecting it, that's all." Clary knew she had hit something, some nerve. From Tessa's reaction it was clear that Clary shouldn't go on. But something was telling her not to give up when she was so close.

"Tessa?"

"I… He rescued me form the Dark sisters," Tessa started. Clary had to bit her tongue to stop herself from speaking her thoughts. In Clary's mind she saw Will as the tall dark and handsome knight coming to rescue his princes. It was the perfect fairy tale until Tessa continued, "And I threw a vase at him." Clary was not expecting that. She couldn't help but giggle.

"You did what?!" Tessa blushed.

"It cut him from his elbow to his wrist." After a second of thinking about it, Tessa started to laugh too.

On their way back to the ally they saw the boys taking to someone. He had his back to the girls so Clary couldn't see his face but once they are close enough she recognised the voice.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you." Magnus said.

"Hey," Clary called out.

They all turned to look at her and Tessa. Every single one had a smile on their face, especially Magnus.

"So, I see you found the institute?" There was some confusion from the others as to who he was referring to.

"Yes we did, thank you." Even though it wasn't the Magnus Clary knew, she was extremely happy to see him. He gave her a big grin before addressing Tessa.

"And I hear you're getting married?" At his words Tessa's face went a deep red. "Well, congratulations. I do expect to be invited to the wedding. Such happy times weddings, everyone is just so happy… it's simply fabulous." He got a smile out of everyone but Will. Once again Clary felt for him; his best friend is marring the girl he loves and there's nothing he can do about it but act happy for them both and try his hardest not to show the pain he must be in. Magnus also stopped smiling when he saw Will. Did Magnus know about Will's feelings for Tessa? When their eyes met Clary saw something pass between them and she could tell that he did know.

They walked back to the carriage discussing what they had found. When it was clear that the trip had gotten them nowhere everyone was disappointed but not surprised. They rode back to the institute in uninterrupted silence.


	11. Chapter 11

Walking back into the dining room Tessa felt like she was drained of all her energy. It had been a long and tiering day and she wasn't looking forward to telling the others that their investigation had been a failure. Tessa took a seat next to Jem; he leaned over and held her hand. What Clary said at the market came flooding back to her. Tessa had wanted to tell someone of her feelings from the start, wanted to be able to hear someone else's thoughts, but she had never come across someone to tell before.

"So, how did it go?" Charlotte asked once the food was served.

"Horribly," Will said with disgust, "We got absolutely nothing."

The table went into quiet conversation about how the day had gone. Everyone was drained and none of them felt like they had accomplished anything. Tessa however was glad to have the quiet so she could settle her thoughts.

"Miss Tessa," Sophie taped Tessa on the shoulder. She had a look of concern on her face and Tessa wondered what could have happened. "A letter arrived for you today while you were out." The other girl handed her the letter on a small silver platter before walking back to the kitchen to help with the dishes.

Tessa looked down at the letter with bewilderment. Who would be writing to her? All her family was dead and the only people she held dear were sitting around the table with her. That only leafed one person and it was the one person Tessa feared the most. She prayed that it was someone else, some distant relative; anybody but him. But Tessa's prayers went unheard and when she opened the envelope her stomach tightened.

_To my dearest Theresa,_

_I have heard news of a marriage coming your way. Congratulations my dear, send Jem my love too will you. And you should also send poor William my dearest apologies; I know how he feels to see you in love with another man. It really is a shame though Tessa, that you won't be able to have your dream wedding, with all the pretty flowers and your beautiful gown. Because you see, your beloved Jem only has a short time to live. But alas I offer you a deal; I have what you want Tessa, Jem needs medicine, but you know that don't you? And you also know that I am the only one who can give it to you. So my offer is this; go to London central park and wait, I will have someone bring you the drugs, then you may return home to your fiancé. How does that sound? However Tessa, I would like to see you soon so don't think this deal is permanent. And just so you know, it would be best if you came alone. _

_'Till we next meet my love,_

_Mortmain_

Tessa sucked in her breath. She was even more frighted than she had ever been before; Jem's life rested on the man who wanted nothing more than death. She struggled to push down her emotions until she was alone where she could think clearly. Her head was buzzing with apprehension.

The others stood up and retired to their rooms. Tessa was walking down the halls towards her room when she was stopped by Jem who was waiting at her door. She smiled at him fully aware of the burning thought at the back of her mind.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"I love it when you do that." Jem walked over to her. She could feel her skin burning and was thankful it was cool in the hall way. "I wanted to talk to you," he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. Tessa felt the hole in her heart growing bigger each second with fear.

"Then lest talk." She followed him into his room and gently closed the door.

"How are you? I've noticed that you seem distracted lately." Jem sat down on the bed.

"No, I'm fine really, I'm just tired." She assured him, even though it was her who doubted the words.

"Tessa," Jem said her name with such tenderness that she had to look away.

There was a slight choking noise followed by a fit of coughing. Tessa looked back at Jem who was hunched over with his hand pressed to his mouth. Dread washed over Tessa. This couldn't be happening, Jem had been fine; it had been ages since his last attack and Tessa had almost thought he was getting better. She wanted to hit herself for her foolishness.

Jem was coughing up blood and Tessa could see the tears in his eyes. She jumped to her feet and scanned the room for his medicine. It was sitting on his bedside table where it always sat in the little box. She reached over and grabbed it. Jem's fit was still going. Tessa sat back down next to him and opened the little box. She could feel the tears in her own eyes by this point and her heart was racing.

The next seconds stretched on and on to what felt like forever. Tessa looked down at the box with despair. It was empty. There was only a miniscule amount of powder trapped in the corners of the box. Out of desperation she dug her fingers into the corners trying to scrape as much out as she could. Tessa gave the drug to Jem who had settled down enough to take them himself. He asked her as politely as he could to leave. Tessa could feel the tears running down her checks but she turned away and walked toward the door.

Tessa heard Jem say quietly as she shut the door that he was sorry. Thought his voice was so soft that she wasn't sure if he really wanted her to hear him at all.


	12. Chapter 12

Clary had just shut the door to her room and was getting out of her fancy gown. Not for the first time that day she was glad that back home she could run around in jeans and a T-shirt. Jace had found it funny how she complained about the dress whenever the others were out of earshot and she had left him still smiling in his room just minutes before. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror. The dress did make her look very pretty and she felt bad for growling at Jace when he said that she looked beautiful in it and should bring it home with them. They had only been here a single day and already Clary missed her friends. She wanted so badly to talk to Simon and tell him about everything that had happened. Despite wanting to go home, Clary really liked it here. All the people were welcoming and she had really taken to Tessa. Thinking about Tessa made Clary more determined to stay; Clary could see that Tessa needed someone to talk to.

The sound of light footsteps in the hall cut though Clary's thoughts. She walked over to the door and opened it slightly. She stuck her head out just in time to see Tessa turn the corner at the end of the hall. What was she doing wondering around now? Clary guessed that it was close to eleven. She closed the door and sat down on her bed thinking. Should she follow Tessa or not? There was something pushing Clary towards the door. She quickly pulled on her dress back on, found her shoes and grabbed her coat. Shutting the door silently behind her, Clary walked as quietly as she could in the direction she had seen Tessa go.

The rest of the house was sleeping and each step Clary took made her feel like the whole house was creaking under her feet. She had caught up with Tessa but was keeping her distance not that it was too difficult; Tessa was moving very fast through the institute. They reached the front doors quickly after. Tessa stopped and spun around to see if she was being followed. In a state of panic, Clary launched herself back around the corner the way they had come just as Tessa's face came into view. Her expression was one Clary had never seen her have before; she looked terrified and very worried. What had happened to make her so scared? She hadn't seen Clary and soon turned back towards door. Clary let out a sigh of relief.

Tessa was hesitant but she eventually reached out on turned the door knob. A cool breeze filled the foyer for a second then she closed the door behind her and it was gone.

Clary rushed out from her hiding spot to the front door. She had to follow Tessa now, the look on her face had said that much. Something was wrong and Tessa was stuck in the middle of it all. The metal door knob was cold against Clary's palm. She turned it and slowly opened the door. It swung nosily on its old hinges and Clary again felt the cool air swirl around her.

Clary stepped out just in time to see Tessa disappear round a corner. She was going in the opposite direction to the docks and Clary's stomach tightened. She had only been to then docks and wasn't looking forward to going deeper into the unfamiliar city without someone to go with her. But she had to protect Tessa and knew that if she went back for help now she would miss her chance. Clary started to run down the street at full speed. The ground was wet and slippery under her feet but she did not slow her pace.

Tessa was taking a complicated route through the streets of London. Clary noticed that most of the streets were bare of people and animals, the city felt dead and forbidden, but Tessa pushed on and so did Clary hard at her heels. Clary soon saw a change in scenery; the cold and damp streets gave way to lush grass. They were now walking in a park. It was much the same as New York's central park with its ancient trees that lined the path and the occasional bench that was placed so it would have a nice view.

After much time, Tessa sat herself down on one of the park benches and waited. Clary also waited, waited for whatever was going to happen next. She hadn't been waiting long when Tessa burst out into tears. She held a scrunched up piece of paper in her hand and was clenching it tightly. Clary saw her opportunity and she stood to slowly make her way over to where Tessa was sitting. She sat down next to her and reached out to put her hand on the other girls shoulder. Tessa's head flung up with surprising speed.

"Clary?" The shock was plain in her fetchers and voice. This made Clary wonder who she was expecting to meet at the park in the middle of the night. "What… why are you here?" Tessa said in a shaky voice, "Did you follow me?"

"Tessa, I…" Clary didn't even try to hide the truth, "yes I did, but I-"

"Why!?" Tessa jumped up from the bench, anger clear on her face.

Clary stood too and took a step toward her. "I saw you run out of the institute and I thought you were in trouble so I followed to make sure you were safe." Clary explained.

Tessa's rage left as soon as it had come and she fell back onto the chair. "I- I had to come… its Jem," Clary sat down next to her but closer than before, "he's ill, gravely ill, and I-" She stated to cry again, "here." Tessa handed Clary the piece of paper she had been holding before.

Being as gentle as she could, Clary unscratched the paper to find that it was a letter. She read through it carefully trying to proses it all. When she looked up, Tessa was staring at her with pleading eyes. "Tessa," Clary was lost for words. She didn't know who Mortmain really was and what he was capable of, but she did know that she certainly didn't feel safe anymore, even with Tessa there. "Tessa, we should go back. We can get Jace to help us and the others won't need to know, ok?" Clary was relieved when Tessa agreed.

They both stood and began the long journey back to the institute. They weren't even out of the park when they were intercepted by a little old lady; she was hunched over making her smaller that Clary with a mop of grey frizzy hair pulled back on her head. Clary went to walk around her thinking how odd it was to see anyone out at this time. But she stopped when she realised that Tessa was still, her body rigid with alarm. Her pupils were so large with fear that she looked like she had all black eyes.

"Clary, run… Clary we have to run," Tessa spoke in a small and terrified voice. She was shaking Clary noticed and her eyes were fixed on the lady.

Clary looked around and saw that the lady wasn't the only one out for a midnight stroll. Dread filled her. She could see now that they weren't human. She grabbed Tessa's hand which was cold and clammy. They all start to advance on Tessa and Clary circling them so they have no way of escape. Just then Clary's instincts kick in and she begins to buzz with adrenalin. Tessa too, had gone form shaking with fear to standing tall. They had no other option but to fight their way out and fight they would.

Like they had been in the training room both girls were perfectly still waiting for the enemies to take the first step. The automatons -for Clary was now sure that's what they were- made a screeching nose like metal grinding against metal then threw themselves at Tessa and Clary with tremendous speed. The girls lashed out in any way they could; kicking punching and hurling themselves at the lifeless machines.

However hard they tried they could not down a single one and it was becoming clear that they would be over run before the saw victory. Almost sensing the others thoughts Clary and Tessa stoped trying to attack the automatons and worked toward finding a way out of the mass of machines. Clary was the first out. She had –with great effort- pushed the little old lady to the side and was beginning to run when she looked back to see if Tessa had followed. Clary couldn't see her and knew that she was still in the middle of the ambush.

Now that she was closer Clary could hear Tessa crying out for her. "I coming, Tessa, hang on!"

Some of the automatons turned to face her. She stopped dead in her tracks. Tessa screamed out again, this time in pain. Clary set her jaw and flung herself at them. She knocked several to the ground and pushed the others aside. Tessa was holding her right arm which had a long and deep gash in it. The blood trickled down to her elbow then fell to the ground and sunk into the muddy soil. Clary reached out for her and pulled her to her feet. They escaped throw the gap Clary had made before and sprinted away from the automatons who were failing to get back up.

They ran as fast as they could with Tessa's injury. They had put a great amount of distance between them and the place where they were ambushed now and began to slow down sucking in the cool air to soothe their aching lungs. Clary felt a strong and cold arm wrap around her waist. It lifted her off the ground and she struggled to break free of its grasp. Tessa had turned to look at what was going on and started to run back to Clary.

"NO! Tessa run. Go." Clary screamed at the top of her lungs. Tessa stopped running but wasn't leaving, "GO!" Clary watched as she spun on her heals and ran off into the darkness of the early morning.

Refusing to give up Clary continued to wrestle with the mechanical man, but to no success. Clary felt his other hand loosen on her and she thought for a second that it was working. Then the hand came down on the back of her head like a hammer and Clary drifted into darkness.


	13. Chapter 13

The sound of frantic knocking on his door ripped Will from his sleepless dream. All of his dreams were about the same thing, this one was no exception. It was the start of their wedding ceremony, everyone was dressed up in their finest cloths and waiting anxiously for the bride to appear. Jem was fidgeting with his white tie for the ninth time and Will was standing next to him feeling absolutely miserable. The music started, then as one, everybody rose and turned to look down the aisle. She was beautiful. Will's breath caught and he could feel the heat rushing to his face. Tessa appeared in a long white dress with little silver flowers on the bodice and back made of lace. She had her hair up with some curls that hung around her ears. When she walked the flecks of silver in her hair and on her checks sparkled in the light. Will felt the most profound happiness at that moment, he was almost able to forget the aching in his heart. Seeing her smile at him and seeing the way her grey eyes lit up with love. He looked over at Jem, her emotions reflected on his face.

The knocking had intensified and Will realised with slight anger that the person was not going to let him sleep. Slowly he pushed the covers off his bed and walked over to the door. When he opened it, all he could do was stare at the person before him in shock. Her hair was a mangled mess on her head and her cloths torn and muddy. Will thought back to his dream; at how she had radiated beauty. And now he saw her like this before him; terrified and shaking. A deep urge to pull her close hold her came to him. With a great effort he pushed it down.

"Tessa? Are you alright? What happened, what's wrong?" Despite trying to hide his fear, Will's voice gave away all his emotions. But Tessa didn't seem to hear him, she was looking form side to side and he could see the tears in her eyes spill out and roll down her checks. What had happened to make her so distressed?

For the first time since he had opened the door Tessa seemed to notice him. Their eyes met for only a second before she threw her arms around him and planted her face into his chest. Her tears made his shirt damp in a matter of moments. Will was so surprised that he just stood there not knowing what to do. His arms hung awkwardly in the air above her head and his eyes had a hard time trying to find a place to look at. She didn't let go of him until she had stopped crying.

"Tess?" She looked up at him. He reached out and went to take her arm when she jerked away from him. She reacted like his touch was poison and despite everything that was happening he could not help but feel hurt. Concern hummed in his bones, he needed Tessa to talk to him but he could not bring himself to get information out of her. She was extremely shaken and he didn't want to do anything that would upset her farther. Tessa hugged herself and it was only then when Will noticed the metallic smell of blood. He looked down at her and saw that her right arm –the one he had reached for- had a bad cut on it; deep and long. "Tessa, your arm," She looked down at it then back at him, her grey eyes shining.

Will walked off into his room and began pulling cloths out then throwing them on the ground looking for something he could use to bandage her arm. He was dimly aware the she was now sitting on his bed with her legs pulled up to her chest. Her body occasionally shook with a sob but apart from that she was still. Will found an old shirt that he had torn when he was fighting; he pulled it out of the dresser and ran his fingers over the material to see if it was soft.

He took a moment to watch her sitting on his bed. She had her knees pulled up and was hugging them close to her with her head resting on top. Even without the white wedding dress and glitter in her hair; she was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. He walked over to her and sat down on the bed.

"Will," Tessa's voice shook. He reached out and carefully took her hand and placed it in his lap. She watched his hands as he bandaged up her arm. Finally she began to speak about what had happened not bothering to leave out any details. She spoke of a letter she received form Mortmain and how she had gone to meet him. Then about how Clary had been with her and how they had been attacked and Clary was then taken. As she spoke Will could feel his anxiety rising but tried his hardest not to show it, because he knew from experience that it would help nobody.

When she finished speaking Will noticed that she had started to tremble. Her eyes were red and her tears left wet trails down her cheeks. The urge to hold her hit him again but this time he couldn't fight it. Being as gentle as he could, Will put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. She didn't fight him like he had expected. Instead she moved closer to him and he tried to calm her down by making soothing noises and stroking her hair. Will waited patiently for Tessa to stop shaking before he said anything.

"Tess, it's okay. Shhh, come on." His voice was soft and kind.

Will stood and helped Tessa to her feet. Then they both went to wake the rest of the institute to tell them what had happened.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry this is a really short chapter and sorry I took so long. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The ringing in Clary's ears started to die out, but the throbbing in her head and at her temples remained. She could hear nothing and her mind was blank. She tried to reach into her memories and find out where she was, but just thinking was painful. She was dimly aware that she was moving but had no idea how.

Slowly Clary opened her eyes and had to blink in the dim light. She was lying on her side on a seat. Stroking the material under her fingers, soft velvet, Clary lifted her head. She was in a fancy carriage with red velvet seats and small windows that were covered by red curtains. With a great amount of effort and pain she pushed herself into sitting position and saw that she was not alone. The man who had grabbed at the park her was sitting across from her, his face blank.

The memories came flooding back to her. She had followed Tessa and then they had been ambushed. Clary suddenly thought of Tessa. Had she gotten away? Was she safe or was she in the same position Clary was? Or worse? Fear shot through Clary and threatened to overwhelm her. Struggling to keep herself calm Clary took deep breaths and tried to put everything together.

The automaton was looking at her with dull eyes. She met his gaze with a snarl but knew it would do nothing. These things were dead, their eyes said that much; dark and hollow. The carriage went over a bump and Clary was sent flying into the air with a squeal. The man, however, didn't move an inch; he just sat in his lifeless way. When she landed pain shot through her whole body. Adjusting herself so she was comfortable again, Clary worked up the courage to speak.

"Where am I?" her voice sounded more confident then she really felt.

The man remained silent.

"I said; where am I?" Clary spoke very slowly, "Answerer me!"

His body twitched making Clary ridged with fear. "You are being taken to the Magister, he is most looking forward to you company." His voice sent a shiver down Clary's spine; it was so cold and unforgiving. Clary knew then that if she were to push him for more information she would regret it. So she remained silent, the only sound was the wheels taking her to some place she did not want to go, to meet somebody she did not want to meet.


	15. Chapter 15

"But why didn't you tell anyone?" Charlotte was trying to keep herself calm but Tessa knew that she was struggling, as was everyone else. Tessa was overwhelmed with regret; if she had waited or told someone, anyone, Clary would be sitting here now next to Jace. But no, Tessa had been stupid in going and taking the bait then she had been selfish in leaving Clary behind.

And Jace, Tessa had been so worried that he would hate her and that he would never trust her again, but Will told her Jace would understand. She didn't really believe Will but it had made her feel a bit less frightened. Jace wasn't angry like Tessa thought he would be, instead he sat at the table like everyone else and just listened. Which made her feel even worse because she could see the fear and worry in his eyes and the tension in his shoulders.

"Charlotte, enough," Will had done all the speaking because Tessa hadn't been able to say a word. She was so thankful to Will. Before he had said anything he would look over to her to see if it was okay. She began to wonder why she had gone to Will and not Jem. The thought started to unnerve her; Jem should have been the one she went to not Will and yet she had wanted to see him, _needed _to see him. More guilt washed over her. Will explained why Tessa had chosen to go before but the others still didn't understand yet.

"You should have told us Tessa. We could have come up with a strategy and taken Mortmain, it was a massive mistake on your part." Gideon said.

The room went silent. Tessa could feel the tears threatening to spill out down her checks.

"No," Jace was looking at Tessa with gold caring eyes, "it's not your fault Tessa, you've done nothing wrong." His words brought a small smile to her lips; she was frightened that he hated her and for him to defend her made her heart feel slightly at ease and some of the tension left her shoulders.

It returned once the conversation started again; they were discussing what Mortmain will do with Clary and Tessa's whole body shook when she thought about it. He had wanted Tessa not some other shadow hunter. Would her kill her as soon as her saw her? Tessa didn't know but if he did it would be her who was responsible. And that was something Tessa couldn't live with.

"You said that Tessa went to the park?" Charlotte asked Will. He nodded. "Then I suggest we start looking there. Jem, Will and Jace, you go and see what you can find." She stood up to leave. The others followed.

"No, I want to come too." Tessa wasn't going to sit and wait to hear from the others, she wanted to go and help her friend.

Charlotte was silent for a minute then said, "I believe you being there would benefit nobody, but I cannot stop you if you wish to go." And with that they all left the room leaving only Jem, Will, Jace and her behind.


	16. Chapter 16

The sun was high in the sky; they had been in the carriage for a long time now and it was clear wherever they were going it wasn't in London. But time had no meaning to Clary; she was focused on her own thoughts. She knew Jace would come for her, knew that he would never abandon her, but she also knew if did he would be walking into a trap.

The carriage came to a slow stop and the automaton opened the door. The light filled the dim space, followed by fresh air. Clary sucked in deep breaths of it thankful for the change. The man stepped out then held the door open for her to follow.

The scene before her was not what she was expecting. They were surrounded by lush green grass and many small hills that seemed to roll on forever. The sky was a bright blue and there was not a cloud anywhere. It was such a change from the streets of London and it made Clary feel somewhat more relaxed. But it did not last. Standing proud and tall in front of Clary was the most elegant mansion. It was a cream colour with ivy climbing up one side of it. Despite its beauty and grace the house made Clary feel cold right down to her bones. Then she noticed the people standing around the mansion, automatons. There were about a dozen of them and they were all doing the same thing; waiting.

Clary's companion started to walk up to the house then stopped and looked back at her. He waited for her to catch up before he continued walking. When they reached to front door Clary saw that it had a pattern caved into the wood. The interlocking gears were depicted with flawless accuracy. Clary had seen this somewhere before, it was so clear in her mind but she didn't know why. A second later the door was opened to reveal the inside of the mansion.

Like the outside, it was beautiful, the high ceilings and walls all had the same pattern that was on the door and the polished floor showed the reflections of the witch lights that never flickered like candles did. In front of Clary there was a grand staircase made of dark carved wood. It sat in the middle of the enormous foyer that had many doors that must have led to the rest of the house. Out of the corner of her eye Clary saw things moving in the shadows and felt all eyes were on her.

The man led her through one of the doors to the left side of the staircase and into what must have been the dining room. There is a long table in the middle of the room with two places set –one at each end- and only two seats. Clary was seated at one then left alone.

It was only a matter of minutes before the door opened again. Clary turned in her chair to see the man behind all of this. He had grey hair and green eyes. Clary sucked in her breath. At the sight of her sitting at his table turned his face a bright red.

"Hello," His voice was rich and unsettling.

Clary could feel the blood pulsing in her ears. Her mouth was dry with fear as he walked around her and sat down in the other chair, a look of hatred on his face. They sat studding each other for a long time before he spoke again.

"Do you know who I am?" Clary nodded, he ran his eyes over her. She wanted to shield herself from his stare but didn't dare. "It seems that a slight mistake has been made. You should know better than to read through others letters." Clary didn't know what he was talking about.

"I didn't," He looked up at her from under his eye brows and smiled. Clary could hear the beating of her heart now. That look would stay with her forever.

"Really? Then tell me why you are sitting here in front of me. Because I do not remember inviting you, shadow hunter."

"I…" Clary started but could not think of what to say.

"Yes?"

Deciding to go for a different tactic Clary sat up taller in her seat, "What do you want?" she said with as much force as she could master.

He let out a small laugh, "What do I want? I want what is owed to me."

"Tessa isn't owed to you; she's a human being and has a will of her own." The words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them.

"Is she?" Mortmain lifted one of is eye brows.

"Is she what?" Clary asked clearly confused.

"Is Tessa human?" he waited for Clary to answer.

"Of course she is,"Clary snapped, but as she spoke she wasn't sure.

"The answer, Shadow hunter, is no. Tessa isn't human but something else entirely, something unique and I need her. So I will ask you only once more, where is she?"

"I don't know."

"Very well, then I shall wait until you memories come back." He stood with an evil smile dancing on his lips and left the room. Then the same man from before came in and pulled Clary to her feet. He marched her out of the room and back into the foyer then up the grand staircase and into one of the rooms on the right, closing the door once she was in. Clary heard the faint click of the door being locked then the sound of fading foot steps down the hall.


	17. Chapter 17

The path felt so much shorter when Tessa was with the boys. They had reached the park just as the sun hit the midday point and started looking for anything that would help lead them to Mortmain and Clary. In the light, the park looked normal and there was nothing that showed the horrendous event that had happened earlier.

Tessa was trying not to let herself remember the way they had been ambushed and how Clary had come back to save her. She looked at the bench in front of her, it was the same one from before but now it looked less frightening and duller.

Off to her side Jace pulled out a small black box. It had buttons on it and Tessa could also see the small and delicate runes on one side.

"What's that?" Will asked pointing at the device in Jace's hand.

"It's a sensor, it detects demon traces." Jace explained.

"What? But- I mean how…" Will looked at it with his eyes wide.

Jace opened his mouth to answer when Jem took a step toward him. "May I?" Jace placed it in his hands. "How did you get this? This is Henry's sensor."

Jace's expression changed and he looked each one of them in the eyes. "I guess it had to come out sooner or later," Jace told them that he and Clary are from another time and were on a quest, "We come from the future and were sent back to help you somehow. I'm sorry I told you so late but Clary and I agreed that it would be better if you didn't know."

They were all speechless. How was this possible? Will shook his head as if to clear it. "But… wait that makes no sense. How? I mean-"

"Look, how we did it is not what's important right now."

"Jace is right, we need to help Clary," Tessa had gone back to trying to find a lead on where Mortmain might have taken her. But despite their efforts they find nothing useful to go on and had to return home empty handed.

Once they walk through the door they headed to the drawing room to tell Charlotte. Jem was explaining what had happened when Tessa realised that Jace wasn't there. She excused herself and quietly and shut the door behind her.

Finding Jace didn't take long; he was sitting on the front step of the institute with his head in his hands. Tessa could hear him saying Clary's name over and over again to himself and her heart broke. She sat down next to him on the step wanting to comfort him but not knowing how to.

"We'll find her Jace," He looked up at her, his face a mask of despair, "We will save her, I promise."

He gave her a small smile and opened his mouth to say something.

"Oh, Miss Tessa, there you are," Sophie was standing behind Tessa and Jace with a worried look on her face. "Forgive me for interrupting, but while you were out another letter came." She handed Tessa the envelope then turned to go back inside.

Tessa opened it and read it out loud to Jace:

_"Once again you let me down Tessa. I do hope this won't become a habit because I shall tire of it quite soon. Did you know that I was graced with an unexpected guest earlier today and I do believe that she is a friend of yours is she not? No more games Tessa, give up and you may save yourself the regret of letting your friend die for you. I've had enough. I will see you soon at the old Manor house just out of London. If you are not there by night fall the pretty little shadow hunter will die. Am I understood? Nightfall Tessa, don't forget will you."_

"If he touches one hair on her head, I'm going to kill him." Jace said.

"Get in line," They looked up at Will and Jem. They were both dressed for battle in their gear. "It's time, let's go."

"Wait, what about the others?" Tessa asked.

Jem answered, "They know, and we're the only ones going." Tessa knew they may not come out of this unscratched.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, sorry i took a while to up date. This chapter is kinda short but the next one will be longer... and better. Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading. **

**LittleSparrow**

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Clary sat on the bed in the empty room. She had been in there for a long time now, but she didn't mind the silence. Her room was cold and bare. The only piece of furniture was the wooden bed and a small bedside table. On it there was a little silver mirror and a water pitcher.

A sudden urge to escape hit Clary. She knew she could get out easy enough, but would she make it or would she be caught? The sensation went deeper into her bones until she could stand it no longer. When she stood the wooden bed gave out a loud creak that made Clary's skin crawl. Stepping lightly, she made her way over to the door and pulled out her steel. It felt strangely heavy in her hands but she managed to draw the opening rune without making a mistake. The satisfying click told her that she was free of her cage. Clary pushed the door open and hesitantly stuck her head out. The hall was empty, so Clary stepped out of the room and began walking back the way she had come.

Thankful that there hadn't been someone guarding her, Clary sped down the halls trying to find her way back to the foyer. Ahead of her she saw the grand stair case and increased her pace. She was almost there when she saw a group of automatons patrolling the door. Silently cursing them, Clary stopped and tried to think of her chances. There was no way she could take them, look how well it had gone last time. Not knowing what to do Clary just waited, the thought that someone would see her was clear in her mind and it made her feel on edge.

Out of the corner of her eye Clary saw a flicker of movement. It was too fast to be anyone else and when she saw the dim glow of a seraph blade her heart fluttered. Jace was creeping up behind one of the automatons, the biggest one. Then Clary saw Will mirroring Jace's steps. In a matter of seconds they had each taken down an automaton and were trying to stop the rest from getting away.

Jem had joined them now and all three boys were lashing out at the remanding guards. Jace took out the last one with a swift movement taking off its head. It rolled around on the ground shooting sparks in every direction, coming to rest next to Tessa's foot. She was standing behind Jem with a sick look on her face. A wave of relief washed over Clary; Tessa was safe, at least for now. Clary could see them discussing where to go next. Will was pointing toward the dining room and speaking softly. For the first time Jace turned so she could see his face. Her heart ached; he looked so afraid and worried. Unable to hold herself down any longer she emerged out of her hiding space and into the open.

"Jace!" All the love and happiness poured out into her voice.

They all turned to see her. Clary saw the surprised looks on their faces and smiled. Jace's eyes lit up with relief and love when he saw her.

"Clary!" Her smile spread as she looked at him. Clary took the steps two at a time and once she was at the bottom she broke into a sprint and ran straight into Jace's arms. He was laughing as he picked her up and spun her around. It was the most wonderful feeling Clary had ever had; she felt free and loved. Jace set her down on the ground and kissed her passionately holding her checks with his hands.

"Clary, are you alright, did he hurt you?" He held her back at arms length and looked her up and down concern all over his face, "If he did, he's going to regret it. I swear I will-"

"Jace," Clary cut him off with laughter in her voice, "I'm fine." She kissed him again with her hands around his neck. He pressed his face into her hair and inhaled deeply.

"I love you, Clary." Clary was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling.

"Hate to break up this touching moment, but we really should be leaving now," Will was looking from side to side his body tense.

They started for the front door walking with caution. Jace's hand laced through Clary's. Jem reached out to turn the door knob when they were stopped by the sound of slow clapping behind them. They all turned in unison to see Mortmain standing at the top of the stairs with a foul smile on his lips. His laughter sent a chill all the way down Clary's spine.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys sorry i took so long. I know the last chapter was a bit boring so i made this one have some action. I hope you like it, tell me what you think. Enjoy**

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"You didn't really think I would just let you just walk out, did you?" Mortmain's voice was calm and terrifying.

Jace had his hands in tight fists at his side. They were all silent for a while until finally Will said; "Well are you?"

"Don't be smart to me, Shadow hunter," Mortmain snapped at him, "I would not have told you where I was if I intended on letting you go." He laughed again and looked behind him, "I will ask this once; Theresa come here." Tessa reached out and took Jem's hand. Will also moved in front of her like a shield. "Very well," Mortmain lifted his hand.

From behind him came the sound of metal grinding against metal. Clary strained her ears and could hear the faint ticking that never seemed to end. A vision came to Clary, it was so familiar that she knew she had seen it before. Then she remembered her dream, she had gotten it the night before she and Jace had stepped into the portal. This was it; this was what it all came down to. Clary waited, her heart going a million miles an hour.

When it came into the light Clary saw it was like nothing else she had ever seen. It stood much higher than any of the other automatons but that's not what made it look so petrifying; in place of arms it had razor sharp blades, one was long like a sword and the other was circular with jagged sides. They gleamed in the faint light sending flecks of it across the walls. Its glass face was featureless and under it Clary could clearly see the mechanism working to keep it standing and moving. But on top of everything, something was very, very wrong. The gears that moved under its clear glass skin were being pushed by a thick black mist. It swirled all around the automaton on the outside too, casting it in constant shadow.

"Do enjoy yourselves," Mortmain stood perfectly still as the monstrous creature descended the stair case four steps at a time.

Jace spoke the name of an angel making his blade come to life. He handed it to Clary and took out another one for himself. Will and Jem did the same, but Jem's came from the bottom of his cane. Clary looked back at Tessa; she had a look of pure hatred on her face and was staring straight at Mortmain. The sound of a door opening and closing caught Clary's attention. More automatons walked out of the two rooms on either side of the stairs, they were the same ones Tessa and Clary had encountered from the previous night. She was thankful that they weren't like the other one otherwise they would have no chance in winning.

The monstrous automaton reached the bottom of the stair when Jem said; "Will, you and Jace think you can handle that?"

Both Will and Jace smiled. "I think we might be able to," Will said in a smug tone.

"Good, we'll take care of the rest."

Will and Jace turned to face it with their weapons in their hands. It was at the bottom of the stairs now and started to come towards them. When it was less than a meter away the circular blade started to turn. Clary tensed, she knew that one swipe from that thing would kill them and she could only pray that Will and Jace never gave it that chance. At the same time –with a look to check if the other was ready- the boys rushed at it.

Jem turned away from the boys to look at Tessa and Clary. He gave them a slight nod then looked from his left to his right. The automatons started to come at them, their movements slightly rigid. Clary spun round on her heels and started to move towards one of them. He was tall but didn't look like very intimidating. Clary held Jace's blade out in front of her and started to lash out at the automaton in any way she could. She quickly realised that taking off their heads was the only thing that stopped them from coming back again and again.

Between them, Jem, Tessa and Clary had downed over half of the automatons but more kept pouring in through the two doors. "Why won't they stop?" Clary yelled out to Jem.

"I don't know, just keep them away from Will and Jace!" he yelled back.

Clary's arm was beginning to cramp and she knew that they wouldn't be able to do this for much longer. The boys had better hurry up or this would all go downhill very fast. She stole a glance over to where they were fighting. Will was keeping it distracted while Jace was trying at slash at it in any way possible. They were getting nowhere. Once again Clary got the feeling that they were missing something important, but she couldn't think of what it was.

From behind her Clary heard Tessa scream. She spun back around to see her being picked up by a large man. She was kicking out and trying to break free. Clary scanned the room for Jem; he was on the other side of the foyer surrounded by automatons. There was no way he could save her and the boys were a bit preoccupied, so that left Clary. She ran towards them trying to dodge the scattered body parts that were still sparking and twitch. The automaton carrying Tessa suddenly dropped her and turned around as if he was afraid and ran off in the other direction. When Clary looked up she saw why. The massive automaton was standing in front of Tessa.

"Tessa move!" Will screamed out across the room. He was on the ground; he must have been knocked over. Jace was helping him to his feet. They were both badly injured bit still seemed fit to fight. "Tessa!"

She wasn't moving. Panic filled Clary's heart and she took another step towards Tessa. The automaton moved closer to her and from the top of the stair case Mortmain was telling it to stop. "No! You will not touch her!" he bellowed down at it, but it did not stop. That was when Clary realised; it was alive and thinking. The black smoke swirled around Tessa.

"Jace, its possessed! It's a demon." Clary called, hoping he would understand.

Jace did understand and without hesitating he threw his blade aiming for its glass head. It hit but the glass refused to break. Tessa was trying to move away from it but she looked like she was stuck.

"No!" Mortmain cried out in rage.

Jace swore and looked at Will, who was standing next to the wall using it was support. He looked from Tessa to the automaton then to Jace. Will gave him a short nod then lifted up his blade. With a flick of his wrist he sent it flying across the room at tremendous speed. It hit the glass with a _clink_ then fell to the floor.

All was lost now, they had failed. Just then the glass made a loud cracking noise and shattered into pieces. A horrible screech echoed through the manor. It was so loud that Clary was forced to cover her ears as the automaton cried out on pain and anger. The black smoke was sucked out of the body and faded into the air around it. The lifeless automaton's body slumped forward and stayed there, fixed in a position that was leaning over Tessa's body.

"Tessa," Jem ran over to her and helped push the mechanical foot off her leg.

Clary heard the faint sound of something rushing through the air. She spun round in time to see Mortmain run off down the hall. Then she saw the knife hurtling straight towards Will. She cried out, but was a second too late. Will turned just as it hit him in the stomach. His body jutted forward then he fell to the ground on his knees clutching at the knife.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, thanks for reading. Sorry i left it at a really bad place and its taken me a while to put this chapter up and this its also really short. I hope you like it, its my favorite bit, so happy reading! comment what you think, till next time!**

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Tessa heard Clary call out Will's name. She looked over to where he was standing and her breath caught. Will doubled over and fell onto his knees. What had happened? Then Tessa saw a drop of blood splash on the ground followed by another and another.

"Will!" Her voice caught in her throat. No, no this wasn't happening, he was alright, he had to be. Tessa sprang to her feet and ran to him. Everything else wasn't important, all that mattered was Will and she had to get to him.

When she was close enough she saw the hilt of a dagger coming from his stomach. His clothes were already covered in his blood and he started to fall forward. Tessa moved to catch him in her hands. She laid down his head in her lap and pushed the hair out of his eyes. "Will?" His eyes fluttered up. They were so blue and when they met hers he smiled.

"Tess," He reached up to stroke the side of her face. The tears in Tessa's eyes spilled out over her cheeks and landed on his shirt. His touch was weak and she could feel his hand slipping. She put her hand on his holding it there. The rest of the world was a blur; there was only her and Will. "Tessa, I…" Will took a jagged breath in and winced with pain. Tessa was still stroking his hair but now her hand was shaking. "Tess, I love you." He shut his eyes and whispered the words again almost to himself.

"Will…" He didn't respond. It was then that Tessa realised she couldn't do this; she needed Will. "No… Will no…"

"Tessa," Jem's hand came down on her shoulder. Almost without thinking, Tessa leaned forward and kissed Will softly on the lips. She lifted his head off her lap and placed it down on the ground with great care. She then stood and looking at Jem, her heart felt like it was being ripped open. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. Her body started to shake with sobs. Tessa stayed in Jem's embrace, her mind was blank; she felt nothing but emptiness and the aching pain inside her chest. She stayed there until Jace and Clary came over. She could dimly hear Jem say that they would meet them back at the institute. He led her outside to the carriage and held the door open for her. Tessa stepped in and sat, she looked down at her dress that was now stained with Will's blood and knew that she had just lost the one person she loved the most in the world and not once did she tell him. He words echoed over and over in her head; _I love you, Tess, I love you._

"I love you too, Will." Tessa whispered, but it was too late.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi, thanks for reading, i hope you are enjoying it! First of all, i wanted to say that i killed Will because i really wanted Tessa to realise that she needs to be with him (Tessa & Will 4ever) Secondly, thanks to everyone who reviewed, i really loved reading what you think. And lastly, I hope you like reading chapter 21, so here it is!**

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Clary knelt down next to Will and looked at the dagger. An ordinary iratze would not be able to heal this in time; she would need to create a more powerful rune to save him. "Please, please," She begged the angels. Nothing. "Jace!"

"I'm here," his voice came from her left shoulder.

"I don't know what to do, I-" Clary shut her eyes to stop them from watering. It was so faint that she almost missed it, but no, it was there. The rune flashed behind her eye lids, it looked very similar to a normal healing rune but it was more complex and extremely delicate.

Being more careful than she had ever been, Clary slowly pulled the dagger out of Will. His face tightened with pain, but Clary was so thankful; he was alive. She lifted up his bloody shirt and pulled out her stele. The wound was bad and if she waited any longer they would lose him. Clary touched the tip of her steel to Will's skin next to the cut. At first her hand was shaky but after years of drawing she controlled her hand and got the rune down onto Will. It burned for a second then began to sink into his skin taking the cut away with it. Clary ran her fingers over Will's now perfect stomach; nothing remained there, not even the rune. And when she thought about it, Clary struggled to remember what it had looked like.

"Will?" Jace waited for an answer. And he got one.

"Clary, Jace? What- Where's Tessa?" Clary smiled. Will had almost died and all he cared about was Tessa.

"Jem took her back to the institute, she's fine." Clary reassured Will.

"I wouldn't say 'she's fine'," Jace said in a playful tone, "She just watched the guy she loves die."

At hearing this, Will looked down and Clary could see him blushing. A smile grew on her face; he was so sweet. But then she remembered Tessa. She _did_ just watch the guy she loved die and now she was on here way back to the others thinking he was still dead.

"Well, then let's go put her out of her misery, shall we?" After a moment of thought Clary added, "I think we might need to use Mortmain's carriage, Jem and Tessa took the other one." Clary stood and helped Will to his feet. He looked from Jace to Clary then back again and a huge smile spread across his face.


	22. Chapter 22

Tessa didn't wait for Jem to open the door for her; she stepped out of the institute carriage and leaned against it. Her mind was empty save for one thing; Will's eyes. She saw them when she shut her own eyes. She had kept herself focused on Will's blood on her dress the entire way home and she could stand it no longer. Will couldn't be dead, it wasn't right. They had won, it was over but then she didn't know what had happened, she just remembered seeing Will collapse. As hard as she tried, the sight refused to leave. Tessa could feel a single tear run down the side of her face.

The institute door opened and everyone stepped out. What were they going to say? Cecily ran to Tessa then stopped when she saw her crying. "Where's Will?" Tessa looked down at her, she was just a kid. Tessa knew what it was like to lose your bother and she couldn't bear the sight of Cecily's innocent face turn to despair. "Tessa? Where's Will?" Tears formed in Cecily's eyes and Tessa had to turn away.

The others were walking up to the carriage, Charlotte one step ahead of the rest. Jem walked up to meet them. "Jem, what happened?" Charlotte was shaking slightly.

"We won, but-" Jem stopped and shook his head, "Will, he…" Jem tailed off. He didn't need to finish his sentence and Tessa didn't want him to. She refused to believe it was true. Everyone remained silent, until Cecily cried out.

"No! No I won't lose my brother again!" She ran into Charlotte's arms and started to cry. Charlotte made soothing noises and stroked Cecily's hair down, telling her it was alright, but Tessa could see that she was crying too.

Unable to take it any longer, Tessa walked over to the side of the institute and fell against the wall. She shut her eyes and saw him smile. It was such a kind smile but it was filled with worry, like he was tring to make he feel better. Her feet suddenly refused to hold her weight and she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. Tessa put her head on her knees and let the tears come.

She heard someone come and sit down next to her. Tessa knew who it was and moved over so she could put her head on his chest. Jem wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead. "Jem, is this real?" She needed to hear it from someone else.

"Yes, yes it's real," There was a long pause before he spoke again, "You loved him, didn't you?" The question startled Tessa and all she could do was look at him. Yes, she did love him. But why did he have to die before she realised it? Jem tucked a stray piece hair behind her ear. Tessa's face must have given away her feeling because Jem pulled her close to him and said, "Oh Tessa, I'm so sorry. If I had known…"

The sound of a carriage made them both look up. Clary and Jace must have found Mortmain's because it had gears painted on the sides and the name of his company. Jem stood and looked down at Tessa. He offered her a hand up then slowly walked back to the others. Tessa followed him wanting nothing more than to go and be alone somewhere. Cecily moved away from Charlotte her eyes red and puffy and her face wet.

Jace was sitting at the front of the carriage. He slowly brought the horses to a stop then jumped down. Clary opened the door of the carriage and stepped out. She left the door open behind her and walked over to Jace. He kissed her sweetly on the cheek. Tessa didn't understand their behaviour at all. Why were they so happy? Did they not care that Will had just died? Then someone else stepped out of the carriage. Tessa was stunned. There he was standing right in front of them.

"Will!" Cecily screamed. A massive grin spread across his face when he saw his sister. She sprinted towards him and jumped into his arms. Will picked her up and hugged her tightly. Tessa could hear Cecily laughing with pure happiness and love. It was contagious; Will started laughing along with his little sister then everybody joined in. All accepted Tessa. Will put Cecily down and was instantly embraced by Jem. All the others rushed to them and they each hugged him. But as much as she wanted to Tessa couldn't move; she was rooted to the ground.

Obviously realising that she's not there Will looked up at her. Their eyes met from across the yard and a small sob escaped Tessa. He smiled the most loving smile and took a step toward her. Tessa broke out into tears and planted her face in her hands. Will stopped smiling and walked over to her. She could feel the heat in his fingers when his put his hands on her shoulders. Tessa lowered her hands and saw that he was standing less than a meter away from her. Will tilted his head to the side causing his hair to fall into his eyes. A small laugh escaped her lips which made him smile again.

"Will," She threw her arms around him giggling, tears still in her eyes. He hugged her back and lifted her off the ground. "Will, I thought you were dead," He put her back on the ground but didn't let her go, something Tessa was thankful for; she was so light-headed that she may have fallen over. Will didn't say anything, he just looked into her eyes and she looked back into his. The words formed on her lips, "Will, I have to tell you something," She had to tell him how she felt.

"Yes?" His voice was gentle and loving.

Tessa took two deep breaths in before she spoke, "Will, I love you." And as she said the words she knew they were true.

His face lit up with pure happiness. "I love you too, Tess."

Jem came up behind them. They both turned to look at him. He broke out into a huge grin and scooped them both up. All three of them hugged each other for a long time and Tessa never wanted to let go.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, First off, I wanted to say that this is the last chapter! Second, probably should have said this at the start, but I do NOT own anything in this story but the plot. Lastly, I wanted to say thanks to you all for reading my story and I really appreciated all you support. I would love to know what you thought, parts you liked, didn't like, etc. So anyway, the last chapter, here you go.**

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Jace had his arm around Clary's shoulders. He leaned in and kissed her on her cheek. Everyone was watching Jem, Will and Tessa hug and Clary found herself grinning with them. Seeing them all together like that made her suddenly homesick; she missed Simon and Alec and Izzy and Jordan and Maia, but she also missed her Mum and Luke.

Clary saw that somebody was walking up to meet them. She looked very familiar and once she was close enough Clary saw why. Lorena was walking slowly up the drive. Jace saw her and smiled.

"Are you ready?" She asked in a calm manner.

"Not yet, we need to say good bye," Clary turned and looked back at everyone. They were all looking at the fairy with surprise.

Clary and Jace moved toward them all. Charlotte smiled at them. "Thank you, both of you." Henry and Gideon shook hands with Jace and tilted their heads at Clary.

"You know what's not really fair? You both know who we are but we still don't know your last names. To whom do I owe for saving my parabatai?" Jem smiled at them.

Jace looked over to Clary. She gave him a nod and turned back to the others. "My name is Clarissa, my father was Valentine Morgenstern and my mother is Jocelyn Fairchild."

Clary wasn't expecting the look of shock on everybody faces. They all looked like they had been slapped.

"Fairchild?!"Charlotte's voice was incredibly high. Clary nodded. Charlotte rushed at her and embraced her in a motherly hug. Clary looked at the others over Charlotte's shoulder.

Will was blinking and his mouth was open but he was the first one to recover. "Charlotte is a Fairchild and-"

"And I'm so happy," Charlotte interrupted. She pulled away from Clary, "I knew it, from the very start you felt like family," She pulled Clary in for another hug. All the others started to laugh. Charlotte let go of Clary and turned to Jace, "And you?"

Jace looked over to where they were all standing. He met Will's gaze and smiled. Something must have passed between them because Will's mouth nearly hit the ground.

"No way… you can't be!" The look on his face was priceless and Clary could feel the smile on her lips. Judging from the confused looks on the others faces they hadn't figured it out yet. "Why didn't you tell us before? This explains so much."

"Like the amazing fighting skills," Jace said.

"And the hilarious sense of humour," Will smiled.

"Not to mention the stunningly good looks," Jace flicked his hair out of his eyes in an overly dramatic way. Clary rolled her eyes.

"So true," Will agreed, "Where would the world be without us?"

"Probably falling into chaos."

"Stop it!" Cicely yelled, "What are you two talking about?"

"Herondales" They both spoke at the same time with stupid grins on their faces.

This time Clary was expecting the looks of shock, but it was still really funny to watch as they all stated to put the pieces together.

"Well, Jace Herondale, it was a pleasure to meet you." Jem extended his hand to Jace with a smile, and like before he took it. But when Jace went over to Will instead of shaking hands they both smiled and nodded at each other. To Tessa, Jace dipped his head forward. She smiled and gave him a curtsy in return, then rushed at him. Jace stumbled backwards but regained his balance and hugged Tessa back.

Clary hugged them all and said good bye. She was not surprised to find that she was crying.

"I don't understand something; What did you do to Will? How did you heal him?" Cecily asked Clary. She was quiet so the others didn't hear.

Clary smiled and leaned down to whisper in the other girl's ear, "With a super-duper, ultra-mega healing rune." Cecily frowned in confusion. She must have decided that she didn't really care how, she was just happy to have her brother.

"Clary," Tessa stepped forward, she was smiling and crying too, "thank you," She hugged Clary again, "thank you so much."

Jace and Clary turned back to face Lorena, who had made a portal on the side of the institute. Like he did before Jace slipped his hand into Clary's. "Ready to go home?" Clary nodded and strode forward with determination. When they were a step from the portal she looked back at everyone; they were all waving to them and she could see that Tessa was still crying, but her eyes showed only pure joy. Clary waved back at her with tears in her own eyes. Then, with Jace's hand in hers, Clary stepped into the portal.

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Clary landed with a hard thud. There was a groan from under her. Clary looked down to see that she had landed on Jace.

"Sorry, Jace." She giggled and pushed herself up off him.

Jace seized her wrists and pulled her back down a second later. He and kissed her lovingly on the lips. They stayed like that for a long time until Clary pulled away. She beamed down at him. "Come on," Clary pulled Jace up with her and looked around to see where they were.

The back of the New York institute was in shadow. It must have been close to seven o'clock.

"Home sweet home," Jace said.

They walked up to the front of the house and Jace pushed it open. They made their way down to the elevator. Jace was about to push the button when Clary stopped him. There was a note on the door from Isabel.

_Mum,_

_Me and Alec have gone out with some friends to Taki's so we don't need dinner, should be home at about 8.30._

_Love Izzy_

Jace looked down at Clary with a grin on his face. They jumped in a cab and Jace told the driver where to go. Clary could hardly sit still. She was so excited about seeing her friends that Jace had to put his hand on her knees to stop them from shaking.

When they pulled up in front of Taki's Jace thanked the driver then held the door open for Clary to get out. They walked up to the restaurant, Clary was practically bouncing. She pushed the door open and instantly saw them. They were sitting at the back in a large booth. Magnus was using his hands to explain something to Alec who was smiling and nodding, Jordan was sitting with Maia who was drinking a milkshake with two straws and Isabelle was sitting on Simon's lap simply listening to him speak. He looked up for a second and saw Clary. At first he continued to talk then stopped and looked up at her. Clary beamed at him.

"Clary!" Simon sprang from his seat causing Isabelle to go flying up in the air.

"Simon! What the hel- Jace!" Jace grinned at her. The others looked up to see what was happening and all broke out into smiles.

Simon ran to Clary and threw his arm around her. "Where on earth have you been?!" Clary opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn't where, but when, "Why didn't you tell me you were going on some big quest?! And what are you wearing?" Clary looked down at herself and saw that she was still in the blue gown, only now it was torn and dirty. The she remembered that her top and jeans where back at the London institute. Clary sighed, now she had lost her cloths and had an 'old' blue dress instead, and she probably smelt awful. The look on Simon's face told her that he didn't notice. Clary looked back at Simon and smiled; she was so happy to see him and he was so happy to see her too.

"Sorry, short notice." Jace said and sat down in the corner of the booth.

"Yeah, but still," Simon let go of Clary and went back to sit with Isabelle. Clary followed him to the booth and sat down next to Jace. He pulled her close to him.

"Hello, good to see you both alive and safe," Magnus winked at Clary. A thought came to her. She had met Magnus in London, but did he remember? It was a long time ago, but that wink made Clary wonder. "That reminds me; I was doing some spring cleaning earlier today and I found this," Magnus reached into his coat and pulled out a piece of folded paper. It was yellow with age and had a few creases but wasn't ripped. He handed it to Clary. She took it and carefully unfolded it. Clary couldn't believe her eyes; it was an old letter. A warm bubbly feeling washed over her and she knew who the letter was from. Magnus did remember. She began to read it out loud;

_"Dear Clary and Jace,_

_I hope you get this letter when you return to your time. I asked Magnus to give it to you because you seemed to know him. But if you're reading this then I guess he's done what he said he would. It's been a few months after you left and I have to say that we all miss you both so much. _

_Jace, Will said that he was disappointed because now he would have no one who would take his side and he wanted me to tell you that he still thinks he could have beaten you that one time and that you got , I miss you so much and wanted to thank you for everything. You became like a sister to me and I wanted you to know how much I treasured your company. _

_Charlotte and Henry are trying to come up with a name for their son. Charlotte gave birth to a boy a few days ago! We were all so excited for them. Jem is getting better; he doesn't need as much medicine as he used to which is great news for us but he's still not as healthy as he needs to be, the drugs are still killing him. We aren't going to give up on finding a cure and we're going to scour the world until we find one. _

_I wish you were both here to help us take down Mortmain. I want you both to know that we will never forget you and we are all so thankful that we met you. _

_Forever Love, Tessa"_

When Clary had finished reading she was crying. She hoped that they did find a cure for Jem and wished that she would be able to see Tessa and Will and Jem and all the others again, but a slight pinch in her chest told her that she couldn't, but maybe, just maybe they might.

"So? Care to explain?" Isabelle asked.

Jace started by telling them that he and Clary landed in the middle of the Thames. Clary sat listening to Jace explain what they had gone through. He didn't leave out a single detail and slowly, to the sound of his wonderful voice with her head on his shoulder, Clary fell asleep.

THE END


End file.
